The World's Heart
by Sassy Aloo
Summary: A sacrifice from the heart. A devotion strong enough to carry over even in death. A world protected by its prince. And a journey because they can't live without him against a new threat to Kingdom Hearts.
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings:** Death, angst, destruction, a bit of gore, bit of foul language, confusing plot… I think that's all.

**Pairings:** Heh… don't know yet. Definitely some Cloud/Leon. I'll make up the others as I go along.

**Sassy's Note:** Inspired by the dream I had last night… so you know it's going to make no sense for awhile, but I'm sure I can pull this idea off. I'm really excited about this one!! So, maybe my writing style will be better?

**The World's Heart**

He swung his Keyblade in a wide arch. Another Heartless was defeated. They had to be the strangest Heartless he had ever seen… and he'd seen some strange ones. They looked more like… shadow canines – hellhounds, or something. They were not particularly strong, but they were fast, and that made killing them exceptionally hard, especially since there were so many.

He continued fighting his way toward the large stone ruins. The others were around him, fighting the Heartless as well, but he was moving the fastest. The sweat dripped from his forehead, and he was constantly shaking his soaking bangs from his eyes. It was hot and humid. He could feel a tempest approaching, and that would only make things worse.

"_Riku_!!" Someone called his name – he wasn't really sure over the rest of the commotion – and he looked up. A clear shot to the ruins lay before him.

He charged forward, Keyblade poised high to take out any Heartless that got in his way. The ruins were huge before him. He scanned the sides of the stone wall, looking for any crack or crevice that might have allowed passage through.

Then, he was pulled back by a monstrous force. Twisting, he saw that one of the Heartless had his shoulder in its jaws and was hauling him back. With an angry yell, he swung the Way to Dawn around. It missed, and he struggled to regain his footing, but he was not alone.

The creature suddenly burst and dissolved into darkness. Riku stumbled a moment, before a hand steadied him. Leon just nodded at him, then jumped back into the fray, fighting back-to-back with Cloud, as always. The others were also doing their fair share, which meant Riku _had_ to get his part done.

He studied the ruins again. He didn't recognize most of the archaic symbols and characters, but the ones he did recognize, he didn't like. From what he gathered, this stone wall told the story of the death of a prince.

He swore and struck one of the ruins with his Keyblade. A piercing ring rent through the battlefield. This filled the Heartless with even more fury than before. They attacked the party ruthlessly, and Riku could see the others struggling to defend themselves.

If striking the wall didn't work, then there had to be another trick to getting inside. He felt the wall with his hands. It was strange, but he could feel some form of life beating beneath his fingers. It terrified him. He pulled away and looked up at the higher ruins. He scanned them quickly until he came across what he had been looking for. One of the symbols he recognized. It was the character for "key."

He sprang back from the wall and raised the Way to Dawn high, and _finally_ something happened. The light emitted from the Keyblade reached out in a grotesque imitation of a caress, and as soon as it touched the wall, the ruin gates opened, revealing an over-grown trail way inside.

"Come on!" he shouted over his shoulder. The others dropped their defensive stances and ran toward him. He waited barely a second before passing under the gate himself and hurtling down the path.

The others ran through the gate, the Heartless on their heels, but something happened as soon as they were all in the ruins. The Heartless stopped just before the gate. They were still growling and snarling and snapping their jaws, but they did not get any closer. The party stopped and looked back.

"Even they won't come in here," said King Mickey, looking highly disturbed and upset.

"Why?" Leon asked in little more than a whisper.

"Not allowed, or too afraid themselves, I don't know." The King glanced at his surroundings. "This place… is not right."

Riku bit his tongue to keep it in check. If this place was any semblance of _right_, they wouldn't be here. He didn't wait for any more conversation. He jogged down the path, and he heard the others follow. No words were said; they all pushed forward.

Finally, after was seemed like ages to Riku, the party came into a lighted clearing. The stone beneath their feet was cracked and covered in plant life.

"Look!" Goofy shouted, making Riku jump. He looked at where he was pointing. Up a few stairs and surrounded by two tall pillars was a stone… box? Riku couldn't really tell, but his blood ran cold because he really,_ really _did not want it to be what he thought it was.

The small party approached it slowly, Riku in the lead. He stepped carefully on the stone steps and reach out to touch the cool stone. Only, it wasn't cool beneath his fingertips. It pulsed with life, just like the ruins of the gate. He was sure the others felt it too. With a deep breath, he placed his other hand on it.

"It's a tomb…" he heard Cloud mutter – just before he seized the top and pulled hard.

It came off with ease and he let it fall to the stone ground beneath. He looked inside, eyes hoping they wouldn't see…

He clapped a hand to his mouth and stumbled backward, trying not to get sick. The others gasped as well. Donald and Goofy all but ran from what they saw. Riku felt tears flooding down his cheeks and he swallowed repeatedly. He didn't hear what the King said; he didn't hear Cloud's shout of disbelief or Leon's cursing as the brunette caught Cloud from falling.

All he could think about was how this was _Destiny Islands_ and how this could have happened _here_.

The ground beneath him continued to pulse, and a voice that was not his own whispered in his head, "_Where the prince was born, there shall he return._"

He didn't _want_ to believe it; he _couldn't_ believe it; but he _had_ to believe it because there was _no way_ that was anything _but _a tomb.

And there was no way the mummified corpse inside was anyone but Sora.

_To be continued…_

**Sassy:** Oh my god, I'm on drugs. Not really ,but it looks like it, huh?

Leave a review if you want this to make more sense.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sassy's Note:** _Italics_ indicate a flashback. Just so you all know and are not (even more) confused. Though this chapter should help you understand, if you're clever. Also, if this seems a bit choppy, I apologize. I've been writing on it all day with a few breaks for friends and tussles with a possessed DDR pad. But, anyway, enjoy.

**The World's Heart**

_"Good morning," Sora chirped at him, large grin on his face. He was strutting around __the kitchen __in his pajamas, drinking a glass of orange juice.__ Riku made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat and went straight to the coffee maker. "__Ya__know,__ that stuff's not good for you."_

_"Your mother just tells you that so you won't drink any. You and caffeine would not make a good duo.__ You're already __spaz__ enough.__"_

_Sora shrugged. __"Smells nasty anyway."__ He drained his glass and rinsed it off in the sink.__ Riku snorted. _He_ thought coffee smelled lovely, thank you very much._

_"__Is your mom awake__ yet?" he asked the brunette as he finally got the coffee started._

_"Not yet. I think she was up late last night." That wasn'__t unusual. Ileana__, Sora's mother, was a lawyer, and a damn good one at that. She was the reason Riku acquired his own house at ate sixteen – not that he really ever went home anyway.__ He loved being with Sora and __Ileana__. They were his real family._

_Riku nodded. "Big case she's got. She's been working herself sick over it."_

_"Yup," Sora said with a hint of pride in his voice. "She's determined to win it, and I'm pretty sure she will. All the evidence is on her client's side."_

_Riku grinned. __Ileana__ could talk __her way into anything__. "Too bad you didn't get her eloquence, Sora. It might have made the past few years easier."_

_Sora stuck his tongue out at Riku. "I'm the Keyblade master. I don't _need_ to be eloquent."_

_"It wouldn't hurt things," Ileana yawned as she walked into the kitchen, short brown hair sticking up at odd angles. It was easy to tell Sora was her son sometimes._

_"Mom, don't take his side," Sora whined.__ Riku smirked when Ileana gave him a good morning peck on the cheek first – possibly because he w__as the one making coffee, but Riku__ didn't care.__ Sora pouted until she gave him one as well._

_"You know, I think you're past the age to pout," she said with a raised eyebrow at him._

_"Yeah, pouty-faces on adults are restricted, Sora," said Riku, handing Ileana a coffee mug. "Haven't you learned anything?"_

_"I've only been an adult for a month and a half. Bite me."_

_"Not in front of your dear old mother or you'll give me a heart attack."_

_"But, Mom, I thought you wanted__ me and Riku__ to get married."_

_"Only __because the two of you would mak__e beautiful children together."_

_Riku snorted. "Yeah, Sora, I've always wanted kids. Let's get busy."_

_"Go find a girl, then. I roll over for no man."_

_It was playful banter like this that made Riku's life all the more enjoyable. He didn't know what he would do without both Sora and Ileana. It took being away for two years to show him how much the two of them really meant to him._

_"Speaking of girls, have you talked to Valeria recently?" Ileana asked her son. He shook his head._

_"She's been… busy. I __dunno__…" He tapped his fingers on the table, looking slightly put out._

_"What? Is she not showing interest anymore?" Riku asked, taking a seat while the coffee was made._

_"She is," Sora said, nodding. "I just don't know if her dad likes me very much."_

_Riku snorted. "From what Kioshi said, he doesn't take to his daughters' boyfriends very fast. It's not that he doesn't like you. He's just protective."_

_"When did you last talk to those guys?"__ asked Sora, vaguely attempting to change the subject._

_"About a week ago.__ The orphanage, library, and elementary school are up and running smoothly now. Their next project is the community park."_

_"Looks like Radiant Garden really _will_ be restored to its former glory." Ileana__ smiled._

---

_"Riku?"_

_"__Hm__?"_

_"I've been thinking."_

_"Oh god, it's Armageddon."_

_"Shut up!"_

_"Sorry, but you set yourself up for that one."_

_"I'm being serious!"_

_"Okay, okay. What's up?"_

_Sora hauled himself up and sat next to Riku on the __paopu __tree.__ "I was thinking about… all the worlds out there and how they're all __kinda__ connected, you know? Well, they also all have keyholes, right?"_

_"Yeah."__ Riku raised an eyebrow. "Why?"_

_"Because… we never found the keyhole to Destiny Islands."__ Sora looked genuinely upset about this._

_"I always assumed that strange door had something to do with it." Riku nodded his head back toward the secret cave._

_"Well… what if it does? It's not stopping…__ the Heartless.__"_

_"If it prevents the keyhole from being accessible to us, then it has to stop whatever is coming through the keyhole."_

_Sora gnawed on his lip for a moment. "Yeah… maybe you're right. __Dunno__ why I'm so freaked out all of a sudden."_

_"Trust me. You've got nothing to worry about with that door."_

"Have you ever tried opening it?"

_"Well, no. I don't know how you could," said Riku with an offhanded shrug. Sora looked at him, a funny expression on his face._

_"What?"_

_"It doesn't have any hinges or holes or-"_

_"No, Riku, what are you talking about? What couldn't you do?"_

_Riku blinked. "__Uhm__, open the door."_

_"Why would you want to?"_

_"You just asked me if I've tried!"_

_"No I didn't!"_

_Riku sat there, staring into his best friend's confused face. He _heard_ him. Was Sora's memory really _that_ bad?__ Sora studied his face intently, becoming worried._

_"Riku, are you okay?" He felt Riku's forehead with the back of his hand._

_Riku pulled away. "I'm fine. __Must be hearing things."_

_Sora smirked. "Obviously." He still looked discontent, but Riku didn't say anything._

_They sat there and enjoyed the sunset together._

---

_"When is __Kairi__ coming home?" Ileana asked Sora while she __poured__ over documents and he helped Riku cook dinner._

_"In two weeks, I think." He handed Riku a can of tomato sauce. "Right, Riku?"_

_"Yeah.__"__ The older teen poured the sauce into the pan over the noodles. "__Though__ she may not want to come home. Her letter said she was enjoying herself."_

_Ileana smiled and glanced up. "I still can't believe she's going to be an art student. I never saw it until you three came back."_

_"__Naminé__," Riku and Sora said at the same time._

_"So I've been told."_

_"It's why Sora can actually sing now," said Riku with a mad cackle. He'd heard Sora's singing__ before__… and wished he hadn't. Sora tried to stomp on his foot._

_"I wasn't that bad!"_

_"The hell you weren't. You couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. You should thank Roxas.__ Now your voice makes all the girls melt."_

_"Valeria, at least," said Ileana, shaking her head, visibly amused.__ Sora flushed. "And, yes, I know about that, dear."_

_"Riku!"__ Sora squawked indignantly. The older teen just waved a wooden spoon threateningly at him._

_"Everyone knows about that, Sora. If you're going to sing love songs to your girlfriend, don't do it in public."_

_Sora sunk down into a chair, __hiding his face with his hands._

_"Oh, Sora, I'm sure Vale loved it. And the idea was sweet."_

_"Yeah, it's not that embarrassing," said Riku with a smirk.__ "Didn't you know that Leon eventually talked Cloud into singing for him?"_

_After dinner and all the amusing conversation it brought, Ileana retired to bed early, and Riku and Sora sat in the living room together, watching whatever happened to be on TV at the time.__ Sora was fidgety, Riku noticed, and after a while it began to grate on his nerves._

_"What's wrong?" he finally asked his friend._

_Sora sounded tired when he replied, "I… don't know. I'm just restless."_

_"You're not still thinking about that stupid door, are you?"_

_"… __kind__ of."_

_Riku sighed patiently. "Sora, even if there were any Heartless, you and I could take them out__ no problem__."_

_"Well… that's not…" He looked uncomfortable._

_"What? Is there something you're not telling me?"_

_"… __no__…"_

_"Yeah, that sounds convincing." Riku turned the TV off with the remote and turned to face Sora. "What's up? You've been acting funny the past couple of days."_

_"Eh… __heh__heh__ It's nothing." Sora grinned and rubbed the back of his head. Riku still didn't buy it for a second._

_"Sora…" His tone was that of a concerned friend who could – and would – beat your ass if you didn't tell them what was troubling you._

_Which, when one thinks about it, Riku was._

_Sora cast his eyes downward. "It's just… I'm eighteen now, you know. I'm an adult. There are… things… expected of me now. It's kind of overwhelming."_

_Riku laughed slightly. "Sora, you may be an 'adult', but at heart you'll always be the same. Not much changes, really. So don't worry about it. You'll probably enjoy life more now than ever before."_

_Sora smiled – almost sadly – as he said, "It doesn't seem like it's been four years since I first got the Keyblade."_

_Riku nodded in agreement. __"Seems like it was last week."_

_"I'm glad I did though."_

_"Me too."_

"He sealed his fate."

_Riku's head jerked around. What was that? It hadn't been Sora. He'd been looking right at him, and it definitely didn't sound like his voice. Riku slowly scanned the room for anything out of the ordinary._

_"Riku?"__ Sora waved his hand in front of his face. "What are you doing?"_

_Riku snapped out of it. "Sorry. __Heard something strange."_

_Sora just stared at him, a curious expression on his face. "Riku, have you been - … forget it."_

_"What?"_

_"Nothing.__Heh__Losing my mind."_

_"What?"_

_"Nothing, I said."_

_"Sora!"_

_"Riku!"_

_"Do you want me to kick your ass?"_

_"I'd like to see you try."_

_"I totally could. You know that."_

_Sora grinned __manically__ and sprung to __his feet. Riku noticed a challenging__ light shining in his eyes. "Bring it, pretty boy!"_

_Riku, grin matching Sora's, pounced on the slightly smaller brunette, and they rolled across the living room floor. The tussle lasted until both of them were sufficiently out of breath._

"The prince's journey will be complete."

_Riku's head snapped round again, but Sora didn't notice._

---

_"Has Sora been acting strange around you?" Riku asked Ileana the next morning. Sora had opted to sleep in this morning, which in itself was quite unusual._

_Ileana paused in front of the stove where she was flipping pancakes. "So… you've noticed it too."_

_"Yeah."__ Riku fiddled with the handle of his coffee mug. "Think it has anything to do with Vale?"_

_"It may," she sighed, turning the heat on the stove down.__ "To tell you the truth, Riku, I first noticed it just after his birthday."_

_"He said something about__ being an adult and feeling overwhelmed. I told him nothing really changes."_

_"Maybe he's just worried about college classes or something."_

_"Possibly."__ Riku looked up at Ileana. "He also said something about his… expectations?"_

_She raised an eyebrow. __"Ex…__pectations__ What is that boy thinking?"_

_"No idea," Riku chuckled. "It's not like he hasn't had to deal with being the __Keybearer__ for the past four years."_

_"Mm hmm."__ Ileana's eyes grew slightly misty. "My boy had to grow up way before his time. I don't know why he's stressing about it all now."_

_"He's Sora. He's full of surprises."_

_She laughed. "That's right." She turned her smiling face to Riku. "Both of you… you were so young. Still are, in my opinion. I can't imagine what you've both been through."_

_"It was a hell of a journey," he said with a nod__. "But when I think about it, I'm glad it all happened. I mean… there are some things I did and said that I wish I could take back, but everything turned out alright in the end."_

_"Mm hmm."__ Ileana smiled brightly at him. "Both of my boys came back alright."_

_Riku blushed._

"It's time."

---

Cloud was shaking, hardly able to stand on his own. Leon supported him. The scarred man was pale as a ghost, but he kept his cool as he hauled Cloud up and said, "Come on. We can't stay here."

There was a firm hand on Riku's shoulder, then another under his arm. He was lifted up. He didn't resist, but he couldn't force himself to move either. He was like a doll that someone had to pose.

"Come on, Riku," came Leon's voice, more gentle than the teen had ever heard it. "Let's get out of here. Let's just go. There's nothing we can do right now."

At Leon's word, Riku choked out a broken sob. There was a lurking feeling in the back of his mind that he had known this would happen all along.

_To be continued…_

**Sassy:** Do you understand more, or are you all just more confused? Understand? Good! Here's a cookie. More confused? GREAT! Here's a cookie.

Leave a review or you'll never know what's going on.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sassy's Note:** Dum de dum… trudging right along here, aren't we? Welcome home, Kairi:D

**The World's Heart**

Riku had to be carried out of the ruins. It took more resolve than he had ever had before to turn away from that tomb once he knew what was in there. Still, just knowing made him physically ill, and once or twice on the way out, Leon had to stop in order for the teen to heave. The man was gentle and patient with him, and had Riku been more aware of his surroundings, he may have been surprised at Leon's demeanor.

They had to fight their way out again. Past the ruins gate, the Heartless waited for them. Leon didn't try to put Riku down; instead, he held the boy closer to his chest and ran through the Heartless while the others gave them just enough time to reach the doorway again. There, Leon went through first with Riku, then Mickey, Cloud, Goofy, and Donald shoved it closed behind them. They were out of breath and a bit scratched up, but they were all relatively unharmed. So to speak…

Riku knew it must have been hard for Leon to go through that small tunnel carrying the teen, but he never put Riku down. Riku didn't think he could stand, anyway. They were all silent as they emerged from the overgrown tunnel and emerged out onto the island. It was then that it began to rain. The chilling drops were accompanied by winds that churned the ocean and made it choppier than ever. The boat ride back would be a bit of a tough one.

They managed, though. Cloud and Leon rowed in the front and back while the others huddled together in the middle. Riku just stared at the wooden bottom of the boat. Try as he might to think of something else, he couldn't get that horrible, _horrible_ image of what lay in the tomb out of his mind. He gasped for breath and fought not to start dry heaving again.

King Mickey rubbed his back comfortingly. His brows were drawn together, and Riku knew that wasn't a good sign. If the King couldn't do anything, then they had no hope getting Sora back. Riku didn't know if they could even find out what had happened to Sora.

Sure, he'd been acting odd a few days before he went missing – quieter and more reserved. He stared off in the distance and zoned out a lot. Riku had wondered if he felt sick or was just missing Kairi, or even if he was still worried about that door…

Riku had to think… what if Sora, in a determined state of mind, had set out for the island to investigate the door by himself? If he actually had managed to move the door by himself and gotten captured by those Heartless…

It still didn't make any sense. For one, Sora wouldn't go investigate on his own. Sora did _not_ function that way. He knew the value of working together, and he _always_ used it to his advantage. For another, Sora could have handled those Heartless. Sure, they were tough, but Sora was tougher. So _how_ did this happen?

Riku wished someone had the answers because he certainly didn't have them.

_"Look harder."_

He really wished that goddamned voice would go away too.

---

As they approached the mainland, Riku noticed the people standing by the dock waiting. Yuffie and Aerith, huddled together from the cold rain, were closest. To their right were Cid, Reno, and Rude. Not too far away were Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie; and just behind them was Ileana. Oh _god_… how were they going to tell her…?

The boat hit the dock, and Leon immediately sprung out to tie it to the posts. Silently, they all clambered out. Cloud offered Riku support, but by now his legs were working enough again that he managed fairly well on his own. Still, the blond kept close to him.

The others stared at them, waiting for one of them to offer explanation first. It seemed to occur to them all at once that Sora was _not _with them.

"I think I speak for everyone when I ask what tha' fuck is goin' on?" Reno asked, angrily chewing on the end of a doused cigarette. The redhead was twitchy; he was like that when he was upset. He always had been fond of Sora.

"You found something, didn't you?" Aerith asked quietly. "You're all too upset not to have seen something."

Leon shook his head. "Not out here…" His grey eyes fell on Ileana, who was shivering in the cold, but her eyes were trained on the island. Riku wanted to start crying again.

She _knew_.

It was actually Riku who started walking first. He approached Ileana and drew her into a hug. He felt her shudder, then heard her sob as she buried her head into his shoulder. He shuddered too, but held himself upright and steady. He'd let his grief out. Now it was her turn. He had to be strong for her.

Riku would look back at those few following hours and be slightly surprised at himself. He took charge of things completely. He rallied everyone back to the house, supported Ileana along the way, and managed to keep his calm all the while. It was as if the first shock was over.

And when they were all sat down, everyone looked at Riku, who cast his eyes downward. He couldn't even think of what to say first or how to even say it. It was Ileana who spoke up first.

"What was behind the door, Riku?" she asked, wiping at her eyes.

"Heartless," he said at last. "A lot of… Heartless."

"And not your usual Heartless, either," said King Mickey. "I've never seen a type like them before."

"Ya think maybe they done evolved or somethin'? Cid asked, nervously gnawing on the toothpick in the side of his mouth.

"Possibly, but… continue, Riku," said the King, settling back down.

Riku brushed his hair out of his eyes. "There were Heartless, and there were all these ruins, and most of them I'd never seen before. It was like a mixture of different characters and symbols for different languages. The ones that I could read were strange, like 'prince' and 'key' and 'sleep.'" He paused for a moment to let the others digest that information. Maybe they were on the same train of thought he was.

"The ruins opened when I used my Keyblade. Inside… it was all overgrown, and then there was… a tomb." He bit his lip, stomach churning again.

Aerith gasped, and as soon as she did, it clicked in everyone's minds. Riku could see it in their eyes.

"Sora…" Ileana said, voice shuddering and horrified. "Sora's… dead?"

And in an irony Riku would never forgive, the front door burst open at that moment.

"Sora! Riku! Ileana! I'm back!"

Kairi had come home.

---

_"Hey, Riku!__ Guess what! __Kairi'll__ be home in a week!"_

_"Yes, Sora, I'm quite aware."__ The brunette grinned at him. He flopped down on the floor beside his friend's chair._

_"It'll be great to have her back. God, I miss her."_

_"I think the whole island does," said Riku__, with a small smile himself. "Destiny Islands isn't quite as bright."_

_"Well, it's not so bright right now," Sora laughed, looking out the window. It was raining. __Again.__ Riku wasn't very fond of this time of year._

_"Does__n't__ the rain just make you __wanna__ run outside__ and play in it__?" the younger teen asked idly._

_"Actually, the rain makes me want to stay inside where it's dry."_

_"__You liv__e on an island!__ You should be used to being wet."_

_"I am," said Riku patiently. "But when I am walking down the street – away from the ocean – I like to be dry."_

_Sora grinned mischievously. "I bet you'd like snow."_

_"Snow?"_

_"Yeah.__ Ever seen any__ in person__?"_

_"Well… __uhm__… no."_

_Sora sprung to his feet and leaned over Riku. __"Great! I'll have to take you somewhere to see it! It's so cool! Like water, but all solid and fluffy and stuff!"_

_"And what makes you think I'd like fluffy water better than liquid water?"_

_"Cause everyone loves snow!"_

_"… __Sora?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Personal space, please."_

_"Oh… __heh__, sorry."__ He fell back on his heels and rubbed the back of his neck.__ "I got excited."_

_"I noticed."__ Riku shook his head with a wry grin. Sora never changed._

_"I mean it, though," said Sora. "I'll take you to see real snow someday."_

_"Sure you will."_

_"I will! We'll take a trip… soon."_

_"I'll be looking forward to it," Riku said in monotone._

_"…me too…" Sora's voice had gone quiet. Riku glanced at him. His eyes were closed._

_"Sora?__ You feel alright?"_

_"Yeah."__ His blue eyes fluttered open. "Hey, I'm thirsty. Let's make smoothies!" He ran off into the kitchen._

_"Oh god… Sora, don't _touch_ the blender until I get in there!"_

---

Riku's mouth went dry. What was he going to tell Kairi? Her footsteps echoed across the wooden floor of the foyer.

"Sora? Ileana?"

Sora's mother hid her face with her hands, another sob wracking her body. Everyone else looked at Riku, as if he could do anything about the situation. He grimaced and with a pained voice called, "Kairi."

"Riku! I didn't think you were here!" Kairi appeared in the doorway. She stopped, though, when she saw everyone. "Oh, hey guys. What u-" Then her eyes fell on Ileana, and she turned, horrified, to Riku. "Oh god, what happened?"

"Kairi, sit down," said Riku, forcing himself to stay calm.

"No! Tell me what's wrong!"

"Kairi, please, you need to sit-"

"And where's Sora!?"

King Mickey raised his voice. "Kairi!" She looked at him, trembling. "Please. Do as Riku says." With a nervous nod, she slid down into the seat beside Riku. She clutched at his hand, tears welling in her own eyes.

"Please, Riku, what's going on?"

He took a deep breath, heart pounding against his chest and in his own ears.

"Something… happened with Sora. He's… gone."

"Gone? Like, missing?" She clutched his hand tighter.

"Kairi… he's dead."

---

_Sora lay back on the couch, eyes half closed. Riku was sure he was two seconds from falling asleep.__ He glanced at the clock; it was pretty late, and Sora was one of those early-to-bed-early-to-rise __kind__ of people. He didn't know how the brunette lived with himself._

"He will sleep."

_Riku jumped in alarm and sent the remote control to the TV flying across the room. It skipped across the wooden floor until it hit the wall with a loud bang, causing Sora to jump as well and ultimately end up on the floor._

_"ACK!__ What the hell, Riku?"Sora demanded, fumbling around at the edge of the couch._

_"Sorry! Sorry!" The silver-haired teen darted across the room to retrieve the remote._

_"What? Did you see a spider you just didn't want to get up to kill?" The other rubbed his butt as he got to his feet._

_"No. I heard something and it… startled me."_

_"No kidding." Sora looked at the clock. "I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."_

_"Yeah.__ See you." Riku watched Sora disappear up the stairs, discontented. He had to be losing his mind._

"Watch closely now."

_Riku stood up angrily. That was it. He was going to bed._

---

Kairi stared at him blankly for a long beat, then said simply, "No."

Riku winced. He'd been expecting that. "I'm sorry, Kai, but it's true…" His voice was shaking, and he felt slightly sick again.

"No, he's not. He's fine. He's Sora. Sora's always okay." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Reno look away from the girl, eyes downcast.

"Kai, please listen. Something's been going on, and it's not normal."

"But he's not dead!" Kairi flung herself away from Riku. She stumbled backward. "Sora's _not_ dead!"

"Kairi!" Riku rose as well. She looked wild, eyes wide and face wet.

"HE'S NOT DEAD! HE'S NOT!!"

Leon made as to move forward, but Cloud caught him. Riku just stepped in front of them.

"Kairi! You need to listen to-"

"SORA'S FINE!!"

"Something's wrong, Kairi! This wasn't a normal death!"

"HE'S NOT DEAD!!"

"Something did it to him! Something evil!"

"SORA!!"

"His body's in a tomb on the play island! There's something up with that door!"

"_SORA_!!"

"Kairi! Calm down!"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW SOMETHING GOT HIM!?"

"Because what was in that tomb was not normal!" Riku bellowed.

The room went silent. Kairi stared at him, tear-stained face stunned.

"W-what?" she asked softly. Riku took in a deep breath.

"What was in the tomb… was not the result of three days decomposition," he said slowly. "It was more like thirty years."

"What do you mean?" Rude asked, bringing Riku back to the realization that others were with them.

"It… It wasn't even really his… his body." He glanced around the room. "It was more of… a mummified skeleton."

"Oh my god…"

_To be__continued…_

**Sassy:** Wow, I'm a morbid and disturbing person. This chapter was supposed to be a lot longer, but this looked like a fine place to cut it off.

So tell me what you think so far.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sassy's Note:** Talk talk talk… that's pretty much all this is. Still some questions are answered. OH!! And I changed the review preferences. For those reading who _don't_ have an account, you can now leave reviews. Sorry I didn't notice that you couldn't earlier.

**The World's Heart**

"Oh my god…" That was the general response that ran around the room. Riku angled his head downward so his eyes were hidden by his bangs. He slowly moved forward toward Kairi and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear. He couldn't help it; a tear rolled down his cheek.

"What… what happened?" she asked, voice surprisingly steady.

So, Riku explained how Sora had been acting strange, how he had gone missing, and how today they had finally found him. The others listened too, mulling over the information just to make sure they hadn't missed anything. It took a while, but finally all eyes were dried, even Ileana's. Now, they all calmly sat down, hoping they could make any sort sense of the situation.

"So Sora was worried about that door," said Leon, rubbing his temples. "That in itself doesn't make sense."

Riku nodded. "Something had to set that off, for one." Kairi's head was resting on his shoulder, and his arm was around her.

"Sora doesn't worry for nothing," she added, voice hoarse from crying.

"What could it have been?" asked Ileana quietly. "He never left home for very long, and this all started after his birthday."

"He… he's eighteen now, right?" Reno asked, flinching somewhat. Riku understood. The redhead didn't want to say "_was_ eighteen."

Riku, Kairi, and Ileana all nodded.

"I think we can all agree that Sora… _is_ not a normal boy," said Rude. "And I think his birthday definitely has something to do with… this."

"I'm sure we all can agree on _that_," said Leon. "We just need to find out what it was that did this to him."

"A curse, maybe?" Riku was thoughtful. "I don't know what else it could be."

"So… we've basically ruled out the possibility that this could be a natural… death?" Reno asked softly, eyes trained on the floor.

"It's can't be," Leon said, shaking his head. "Trust me. It _can't_. In that tomb… it was like…"

"Like something had suddenly _drained_ the life out of him," Cloud provided. Leon inclined his head toward the blond in agreement.

"You can imagine what… what that looked like." Riku noticed the scarred man shudder.

"Then how did you know it was Sora?" Kairi questioned. At this, Riku spoke up.

"He was wearing his old clothes. You know, the black ones he hasn't worn in awhile."

"What?" Tidus asked from behind Riku, making him jump a bit. He had forgotten Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie were here.

"The ones he hasn't worn since we sealed Kingdom Hearts."

"Oh…"

"Wait, why was he wearing…" Yuffie started, but then trailed off.

"Good question." Riku fidgeted around a bit. "I'm not sure. He always kept them as sort of a memento, but never wore them again. He shouldn't have been able to fit into them anymore." Riku didn't add that he really didn't stick around to examine the corpse too _see_ if the clothes had fit.

"There has to be something we've missed," said King Mickey. He looked thoughtful then glanced at Riku. "Have you noticed anything else?"

Riku swallowed and fidgeted some more. Throughout all of this, he hadn't mentioned the voice. "I… I think that the 'prince' that the ruins kept mentioning… is Sora."

"Hmm, that would make sense," said the King. "I've never really given thought to Sora being a prince, but if he was the intended target of the curse, then it's entirely plausible."

"How could Sora be a prince?" asked Ileana. She looked rather bewildered at hearing her son could have been prince of anything.

"The same way Kai is a princess of heart," said Riku. "It depends on the strength of their heart."

"Sora had plenty of that," said Rude with a slight smile.

"Okay, so the kid's a prince. Just one question." Cid leaned back folded his arms. "Prince 'a what?"

"Another good question," Riku muttered. "And we haven't got any answers."

"Whelp, we'll just have to go to someone who would know," said Mickey. "Donald, set the gummi on a straight course to Yen Sid's tower. We'll leave within the hour."

---

Riku had been fighting with himself for the past twenty minutes. Everyone else was preparing to leave. Kairi insisted that she was coming with them, and Riku didn't argue with her. He didn't have the heart to.

Finally, though, Riku approached the King. "Your Majesty?"

"How are you doing, Riku?"

"Better. But… there's something I didn't want to say in front of the others, especially Kairi and Ileana."

The mouse looked at him inquisitively. "What is it?"

"Not long before Sora went missing… I started hearing… things."

The King looked genuinely surprised at this. "What kind of things?"

Riku swallowed; his mouth had gone dry. "Like… strange things. It's like there's a voice in my head, and it's saying things that hardly make sense, and it won't go away, and…" He took a deep breath, feeling a bit hysterical.

"What does it say?"

"It… said some things about Sora. Like, 'he sealed his fate,' and 'the prince is sleeping.' That's why I think… that Sora is a prince."

Mickey started pacing, and that was never a good sign. Riku waited patiently. "Whose voice did it sound like?"

"I thought it was Sora's at first, but it was too deep."

"Have you ever heard it before?"

"No."

"Hmm." King Mickey stopped pacing and looked at Riku. "It was wise of you not to mention this in front of the others. Now listen, Riku. Hearing a voice in your head is not normal, but nothing of the past week has been normal. Under conditions – had they been normal – I would have taken immediate action to have you removed from Destiny Islands and secured in the power of Light. If a power is strong enough to plant its voice in another's mind, it is not to be trifled with."

The King sighed in a resignation that Riku could tell he regretted. "I want you to listen to it, Riku. No matter what happens or what it says, I want to know what it says. Will you do that?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Riku said with a nod.

"Good." Mickey smiled at him. "Everything is going to work out, Riku. You'll see."

Riku smiled too, strained as it was. He wanted to believe the King; he had never been wrong before. The teen _was_ sure things would work out; he just wasn't sure if they would work out the way he wanted them too.

---

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Leon was asking Ileana. The woman shook her head and gave him a watery smile.

"No, I trust you all. I'd be getting in the way, anyway. Just promise me you'll find a way to bring my boy back."

Riku could tell Leon did not want to make that promise, for it was a promise no one knew if they would be able to keep. But Leon nodded anyway and bade Sora's mother farewell as he boarded the gummi. Riku fixed a smile on his face as he hugged Ileana tightly. No words passed between them, but that was okay because none were needed.

Kairi too hugged the older woman, and then the two teens boarded the gummi ship together. Kairi clutched tightly at Riku's arm, and even after Ileana waved them off and they had shot off and away from Destiny Islands, she didn't let go.

---

"Pardon me when I say that this place is fuckin' creepy," Reno huffed, eyeing his surroundings, and Donald gave him a dirty look. The redhead seemed unwilling to even leave gummi. Riku actually chuckled a bit. He agreed with Reno whole-heartedly; this place _was_ fucking creepy. He'd been here once before and hadn't liked it at all then either. The feeling of floating randomly in space was not one he was particularly fond of.

Cloud smirked and shoved Reno forward. "Get moving, Turk."

"Don't be pushy, Strife. I'll get off this gummi when I'm damn good and ready."

Rude cleared his throat, and Reno froze. "Partner," the bald man said with a bit of a growl.

"I'm goin', yo!" The redhead left the gummi at a sprint. Riku stayed behind him, and as they approached the tower he heard the Turk mutter, "Baldy needs to get laid." The silver-haired teen chuckled again.

The good thing about the tower was the lack of Heartless and Nobodies. The party kept on their guard, but saw nothing all the way up. Riku couldn't help but begin to feel nervous. He'd never personally spoken to Master Yen Sid. Sora had always described the man as rather eerie-looking, but nice enough. Then there was the nervousness he felt about actually talking to him about Sora. Would he even know anything? Was he as all-knowing as everyone said he was?

Kairi's arm locked with his again, and he could tell she was just as nervous as he was.

"Your Majesty," Leon spoke up suddenly. Reno jumped a good foot in the air at the sudden sound, and Rude shook with silent laughter. Leon spared the Turks a raised eyebrow, then continued. "I don't think we should all barge in there at once. Take Riku and Kairi, and you three go."

"Hmm, good idea," said King Mickey. "So long as the rest of you don't mind." Cloud, Leon, Rude and Reno all shook their heads.

"But we're going too!" Donald squawked indignantly, indicating himself and Goofy. Mickey smiled slightly and nodded.

As they approached the door, Riku and Kairi stepped forward, followed by Donald and Goofy. Mickey pushed the large door open and ushered them inside.

The room inside wasn't nearly as creepy as the rest of the place… but the man sitting at the desk was. Riku stared at him openly, feeling the urge to run from the room. He felt Kairi tense at his side, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw her mouth open slightly. "Freak" was the word that immediately popped into Riku's head upon seeing the old man. With a slight pang, he noticed that Mickey, Donald, and Goofy had all bowed respectfully at him. Biting his tongue, Riku did the same, and Kairi did so too.

"Master Yen Sid," said Mickey, slowly up-righting. "I'm sure you already know of what has happened on Destiny Islands recently, and that's why we've come to you."

The old man nodded, but did not say anything.

"We've come to see if you can give us some answers," said the King.

"We want Sora back!" Kairi spoke up, her eyes were welling up with tears again. Yen Sid inclined his head.

"Understand this," he said. Even his voice had that creepy quality to it, Riku noticed. "What has happened on Destiny Islands is no one's fault and it could not have been prevented."

"What… what do you mean?" Riku asked warily. His heart was pounding in his ears. "He was cursed, right?"

"This is no curse," said Yen Sid. "Even I have no full understanding of the magic behind it, but I can say that under the right conditions, it is completely reversible."

"So… Sora's not really dead?" Kairi asked hopefully.

"Sora is not dead. He never was."

"Then what's happened to him?" Riku's voice was defiant. The man was avoiding the main issue. "Was that not Sora in that tomb?"

"It was." Yen Sid nodded. "But it is not his final resting place. I can tell you only this for it is all I know: In the end, it was Sora's own choice to allow what has happened."

The room was deadly still and silent. Riku stared hard at the man and knew he wasn't lying. But why, _why_ would Sora do this to himself? Why would he do this to his friends?

"If Sora chose this as his fate, then he must have had a good reason," King Mickey said. He looked more confused than shocked. Riku had a nagging feeling that the mouse had suspected this all along. Still, the silver-haired teen could hardly believe that Sora allow this to happen to himself.

"The Prince had his reasons, I'm sure," said the old man with a nod.

"Prince?" Riku asked softly. "So it's true? Sora really _is_ a prince?"

Yen Sid smiled, and it was the most un-creepy thing Riku had yet to see him do.

"Yes. Sora is the Prince of Destiny."

_To be continued…_

**Sassy:** WOO! We're finally getting somewhere! In other news, Yen Sid haunted my nightmares for weeks after I played through that part. Creepy fucker…

More questions or are some of you beginning to get it? The next chapter should answer some, in case you're wondering. More flashbacks! Squee!

Reviews make me write lots faster, by the way.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sassy's Note:** And now I will reveal a little bit more. Just remember not to start hating me.

**The World's Heart**

_"Hey? You okay?"_

_Sora looked up at Riku, eyes wide and innocent. With half a laugh__ he grinned and rubbed the back of his head. __"Yeah.__ I'm fine."_

_"You're awfully quiet as of recently." __Riku leaned up against the tree.__ The two of them had snuck away to the small island for some peace__, but Sora looked far from peaceful in Riku's opinion._

_"Really?"_

_"Yes. What's up?"_

_Sora cracked his knuckles distractedly and took a moment to respond. "Guess I'm just missing Kairi. Bit nervous about college too, I guess."_

_"It's not like you to worry."_

_"Yeah, I know, but this is… a big change, right?"_

_Riku snorted softly and ruffled Sora's hair. "It's nothing we can't handle."_

_"Yeah.__ I know."_

_They both went quiet, but it wasn't that usual comfortable silence__ they usually sat in__. It was tense. Sora _was_ nervous. Riku examined him carefully. He was sitting cross-legged in the sad, idly drawing patterns with his fingers. His brow was slightly furrowed__, and he was biting on his lip. He seemed fidgety. A bird cried overhead, and he jumped. Something was definitely not right with the boy._

_Riku dropped down in the sand beside his best friend. __"Sora."_

_"Hmm?"_

_"Look at me."_

_"What?" Blue eyes caught Riku's inquiringly._

_"I'm going to ask you one more time, and I want the truth. What's wrong? You haven't been acting like yourself __at all__. Is it Vale? Are you really that worried about college? Or are you still stuck on that door?"_

_"But… but, nothing's…"_

_"Look, your mother's worried and I'm worried. Just tell me, Sora.__ Please.__"_

_The brunet bit his lip again and looked back down on the sand. Riku just waited, watching him closely. _

_"It's… well, I hope it's nothing," Sora finally said. "I know you'll probably think I'm crazy, but I really, _really_ don't like that door. It always gave me the heebie-jeebies, but now it's a lot worse."__ He raised his gaze back to Riku. "You don't… you don't think I'm crazy, do you?"_

_His voice sounded so unsure of itself that it stunned Riku for a moment.__ He thought back to __hearing__ the things he had. That disembodied voice…__ the feeling that he himself was going crazy. C__ould Sora be hearing it too?_

_"Why would you think you're crazy?"Riku asked, his voice a whisper._

_"Because… because it won't get out of my head!" __Sora's hands clenched into fists.__ "I keep thinking about it and it won't go away! And… and I'm… filled with all these questions. Why is it here? Where is the keyhole? What's stopping __those__ Heartless? Why do I - …" He stopped suddenly, chest heaving with emotion. __So something _was_ in his head._

_"Sora…"_

_"I don't understand, Riku," he said softly. "I don't understand… why."_

_"Why what?__ Sora, you're not making any sense." The silver-hair teen leaned over closer. "Has anything been… talking to you?"_

_Immediately Sora sprang to his feet, eyes wide. "We can't talk about it here!" he said frantically. "Come on, let's go home!"_

_Riku, nonplussed and slightly horrified, rose to his feet as well._

_---_

_"You two are no fun tonight," said Ileana with a fake sigh of sadness.__ She gathered up her paperwork and stored it away in a briefcase. "So I'm going to run off to bed. __Goodnight, boys."_

_"Goodnight," Sora said with a slight smile._

_"Night," said Riku._

_"See you in the morning," she said, smiling at them, before she __vanished from the doorway._

_It would be the last time Ileana would see her son before he disappeared._

_---_

_"Sora," Riku said sternly, catching the brunet's shoulder as he tried to walk past. Sora put up a weak struggle, but then sighed in defeat._

_"Yeah…Okay, let's talk." They sat down again on the couch. Sora still wouldn't meet Riku's eye, so the silver-haired teen took the initiative._

_"What were you saying before? You freaked out when I asked if anything had been talking to you."_

_"I… I thought you may have been hearing it too, but I wasn't sure__ until now__… __Heh__, so I'm not crazy. Not if someone else can hear it__ too__."_

_"What exactly are you hearing?"_

_Sora fidgeted a bit more, like he'd been doing all through dinner. "It's… a voice." He paused, and Riku waited. "And it tells me things. Like, about the door."_

_"What kinds of things?"_

_"Tells me that it's not solid and it's quite easy to get around if you know how. It said that the Heartless know how. They can do it if they wanted to. They're just behind the door."_

_Riku stared at Sora. How could there _possibly_ be anything behind the door? Heartless did not wait for an invitation to come out and devastate a world. They did as they needed to in order to devour the hearts they needed._

_Maybe Sora really _was_ going crazy.__ It was a horrible thought._

_"Didn't… didn't the voice tell you that, too?" Sora asked meekly.__ His bottom lip was swollen and dark red from all the gnawing and abuse on it._

_Riku slowly shook his head. "It says… retarded things to me.__Something about a prince."__ He snorted. "Like I know any princes…"_

_"… __Prince?"_

_"Yeah.__ Something __like__ that. I don't know. It's vague and sporadic. How often have you heard it?"_

_"… More often than you have… I… I'm sure of it."_

_Sora really looked upset now. In fact, he looked almost ready to cry. This also discontented Riku. If they were both hearing the same voice, then something was up, and he was willing to bet all the __munny__ in his name that it wasn't good. Riku, however, had been in situations like this before, and as such, __knew__ that panicking or getting too upset would not help at all._

_"Hey, hey, calm down," Riku said, laying a hand on Sora's shoulder. "This is nothing to lose your head over."_

_"But…"_

_"Shush." He playfully thumped the younger teen's forehead. "Now, listen. In the morning, we'll call up Leon and the others and tell them what's going on. They'll get King Mickey on it, and everything will be okay. You don't need to worry about this. __You're not going crazy. __The voice isn't hurting you, right?"_

_"… No…"_

_"Then it can wait a few hours. You look exhausted. Go get some rest. In the morning, I promise, we'll start trying to figure all this stuff out."_

_With a smile, Sora stood. "Thanks… I…" He looked at Riku for a moment, __then__ pounced. With a startled yelp, Riku fell off the couch with an armful of emotional Sora._

_"What… the hell?"_

_"You're the best," __came__ the whispered reply__ as Sora hugged him tightly around the neck__. "I'll never find a better friend than you."_

_---_

_Riku woke up early the next morning.__ He found himself eager to finally deal with this door mess so Sora would go back to normal. __As normal as Sora ever was.__ It was disheartening to see a boy norma__l__l__y__ so passive about danger lose his head over something._

_In the kitchen__, he went about making coffee and toast as always.__ He even poured a glass of juice for Sora and set it on the table where the brunet usually sat.__ He was in an unusually good mood despite what had happened the day before. He sat down, sipping his coffee with a small smile._

_It was thirty minutes before __anyone else entered the kitchen. Ileana shuffled in, chirping a good morning in Riku's direction. She was delighted that coffee was already made and promptly kissed both of his cheeks._

_Riku checked the clock. It had been a full hour and Sora had still not come down. It was unusual, yeah, but stress and worry always made Riku more tired than ever. He'd give his friend a bit more time until he finally went to get him._

_At the two hour mark, Riku began to worry. He didn't think Sora had ever slept in this late. Ileana had already run off to work, telling Riku check on Sora and make sure he was alright. She seemed worried about him, too. Riku figured he would go upstairs, pounce on Sora__, and tickle__ the boy out of bed._

_As he ascended the steps, he began to feel… strange. Like, __a warmth__ he couldn't explain, followed by a sudden horrible chill.__ He shivered._

_"Sora!"__ He called out before even at the top of the stairs. "You up yet?" No answer came. With a frown, the silver-haired teen jumped up the last few steps. "You sick or something, Sor__a__?" He rapped his knuckles__ a couple of times on his bedroom door. "Hey! Open up, sleepy!"_

_Still, no answered was forthcoming.__"Sora?"__ Then, that warmth came and settled over him, speeding away as f__ast as it came, and Riku __panicked. _

_"Sora!__ Open the door!" He beat on it with his fist. __"SORA!__ Sora, I'm coming in!" With all the strength he possessed, he slammed his side into the door, and it gave. In he tumbled into the smaller __Keybearer's__ room. Clothes and all sorts of things were strewn about the floor.__ Books and DVDs lay haphazardly all over the shelves. The bed was unmade, and the covers were lumpy, but there was no Sora to be found beneath them._

_Riku's heart pounded wildly against his rib cage.__ His eyes darted around the room. Okay, no sign of an attack. That was good. He looked to the bedside table. Sora's cell phone lay there. That wasn't good. Sora usually took his phone wherever he went._

_The silver-haired teen summoned the Way to Dawn to his hand and stepped further into the room. Nothing jumped out at him. He moved slowly, though, on his guard. He didn't sense anything. In fact, he seemed to be the only living being in the house._

_He took a few deep, calming breaths. Okay, so Sora wasn't in the house. There were plenty of other placed he could be._

_---_

_Riku had checked across the entirety of the __mainland,__ and he was sure Sora wasn't there. With only one more place he could possibly be flashing across Riku's mind, he rowed as fast as he could toward the little island. He was there; Riku was sure of it._

_---_

_Leon was only a bit startled when his phone rang. It was lunchtime, and usually by now no one – not even members of the Restoration Committee – bothered to call him. Cloud and Aerith looked at him expectantly, and with a shrug, he pulled his phone out and looked down at it._

_"It's… Sora," he said, a bit dumbstruck, staring at the device and the name it displayed._

_"Well answer him," said Aerith with a bit of a laugh. Cloud shook his head and rolled his eyes._

_Slightly abashed, the scarred man brought the phone to his ear. "Hello?"_

_"Leon…" The voice definitely _wasn't_ Sora's. It was much too deep and much too strained._

_"Riku?__ Is that you?"_

_"Yeah…"_

_"What's up?" Cloud gave him a raised eyebrow, and the man shrugged again._

_"Something's… not right…" The teen's voice sounded so helpless__ at that moment__ that Leon knew it was something serious._

_"What's wrong?" he demanded, springing to his feet. Cloud did the same. __Aerith's__ eyes widened._

_"I-I… I can't… find… Sora's missing."_

_---_

_The __gummi__ ship touched down on the beach in front of Riku. He shielded his eyes from the sand it kicked up and took a step backward to allow the hatch to open. As soon as the engines died away, out of the ship came Leon and Cloud, Aerith and Yuffie, Donald and Goofy, King Mickey, then finally Reno and Rude. Riku nodded stiffly at each of them. Cid gambled out last. He was obviously the one who had piloted the ship._

_"Hell of a ride," he said offhandedly. "Long, too. The sun's __settin__'."_

_"We won't be able to go tonight," said Leon, worriedly rubbing the bridge of his nose._

_The King stepped forward and directed at Riku, "Where's his mother?" Riku, biting his lip, pointed towards the house not too far away. Mickey nodded gravely. "I need to speak with her." Riku nodded as __well,__ and the mouse started off in that direction.__ The teenager nervously watched him go, hoping he could sooth Ileana's fears about her missing son._

_Riku felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Aerith smiled reassuringly at him, and appreciating her presence, he returned it feebly._

_"First thing in the morning," said Leon, fingering his __Gunblade__, "We'll check out that door."_

_Riku nodded. He was ready._

_To be continued…_

**Sassy:** Wow, that was kinda boring, wasn't it? No matter, it'll pick up. Getting tired of flashbacks, yet? Get used to them; they're important.

Leave a review if you want more.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sassy's Note:** Anyone else think this has been a bit too disturbing? Yeah, let's try and lighten the mood a bit. Say hello to Kioshi!

**The World's Heart**

When Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy quietly walked out of Yen Sid's room four sets of eyes looked at them expectantly. Riku just heaved a sigh and kept his eyes trained on the floor. So Sora was the Prince of Destiny. That didn't mean anything to him. It wasn't the answer to how to get Sora back, and it didn't stop this from happening to him in the first place. At least now he knew that Sora _wasn't_ dead and this whole thing _was _reversible. They just now had to find out what exactly had happened.

Yen Sid hadn't been able to tell them anything else. That old creep was just about as clueless as they were. So now it was up to them to investigate further.

"Before anything else is said, let's get the fuck out of here, yo," said Reno, almost angrily gnawing on an unlit cigarette.

Cloud smirked. "Still got the creeps, Reno?"

"Fuck you, Strife."

King Mickey shook his head, a small smile on his face, but led the way out. The redhead was right behind him. Leon and Rude snickered under their breaths at him. Riku grinned a bit as well; he was glad the others were trying to keep the mood light. He was starting to feel… hopeless about all of this. He didn't know where they were going to go from here.

When they finally exited the tower through the huge doors, it was Leon who stopped them and implored them to tell the others what had happened. King Mickey obliged the scarred man, and for a few minutes, he recounted what they had learned. Not nearly enough, thought Riku with another sigh.

"So what do we do now?" asked Rude. "We need more information. There's got to be something… Rufus' sources may know something."

"Good idea," said Mickey. "And we have full access to all of Ansem the Wise's notes on the worlds and his research."

"So our best bet is to head back to Radiant Garden?" inquired Leon.

"Yup."

Riku nodded, and pulled out a cell phone from his pocket. "Before we go, I'm going to call Ileana," he said, wincing a bit. She'd be disappointed, but he promised he's keep her updated. Kairi patted his shoulder. Mickey smiled at him and wandered away toward the gummi ship where Cid was waiting for them, and the others followed.

With a sigh, Riku flipped his phone open and started dialing the number he knew all too well.

---

When Riku climbed in the ship a few minutes later, he was rather surprised to find Kairi in tears of laughter. He raised an eyebrow at her. Giggling merrily, she pointed at Reno, who was sitting with his back to everyone else, puffing away on one of his cancer sticks. The redhead was rigid and had a scowl painted across his face.

"What did I miss?" asked the silver-haired teen.

"Strife and Leonhart are fuckin' bastards," said Reno. "Giving a guy grief just because he doesn't like the feel of a creepy ass place like this…"

"How did you become a Turk if you can stand a place like this?" asked Cloud. The blond looked more amused than Riku had ever seen him. Cloud Strife smiling… imagine that.

"I'm damn good at my job," said Reno defensively. "You stay alive on the field by following your gut instinct, and right now mine's tellin' me to get the hell out of here."

"Hate to say it, but I agree with Lanky here," said Cid from the pilot's seat. "This place ain't right. Direct course for Radiant Garden it is."

"It's a sad day when Highwind is the only one with any sense around here," Reno muttered.

Kairi giggled a bit more before turning her attention to Riku. "Did you talk to Ileana?"

"Oh, yeah. She's… okay. She wants us to let her know if something comes up."

"I wish she had come with us," said the girl sadly. "It's hard to think of her there alone just waiting for news about her own son."

Riku didn't say anything. That _was_ hard to think about.

At the control panel, Cid punched away at the buttons that would take them back to Radiant Garden. Everyone else found a seat and buckled in. The ride wouldn't take very long, and Riku was kind of eager to see the rest of the gang.

_"Don't lose sight of your goal."_

Riku just blinked when he heard the voice. Then, after a moment, he asked it in a whisper, "What is my goal?"

No one heard him, and the voice didn't answer.

---

They touched down in Radiant Garden less than an hour later, and each of them went their separate ways. Rude and Reno immediately went to report to Rufus Shinra. Leon hurried off to the scene of the Restoration to check the progress. Cloud strolled away to Aerith's house to let her know they had returned. Cid kicked everyone else off the ship and flew away toward his garage.

Riku, feeling a bit nervous, tapped King Mickey on the shoulder. The mouse didn't turn to him, but it seemed he understood, because he said, "Donald, Goofy, you two go ahead to Ansem's study. Talk to Tron and see if he can pull up anything."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Donald saluted him; Goofy waved cheerfully at them; and they headed down the path as well.

"Hey, Kairi?" Riku asked. She looked at him. "Why don't you go see Aerith as well? I've… got something I need to discuss with the King." She lifted a red eyebrow. "Only for a minute! I'll be right there."

"Fine," she said with slight huff. She threw her long over her shoulder and stalked away down the path after Cloud.

Riku winced. "She's going to be asking about that later," he mused. Mickey grinned wryly.

"You should probably tell her."

"About the voice?"

"Yes. I think she has the right to know. Now, what did you need to say? I assume it's about the voice?"

"Oh, yeah. In the ship… it told me not to lose sight of my 'goal'."

"That's all?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Mickey looked thoughtful.

"What could your goal possibly be?"

"To get Sora back, I suppose."

"It doesn't sound likely that you'd lose sight of that."

Riku blinked. "No, of course not."

"Then it must be speaking of another goal you have. A personal one, maybe?"

"What?"

King Mickey just smiled a bit. "The voice is in your head. Maybe it can see your thoughts and emotions."

"That's… a scary thought."

Mickey nodded. "It is."

When he provided no more than that, Riku asked, "So, what do you think it means?"

"I'm not sure, Riku. But, you know, I did realize something while we were talking with Yen Sid."

"What is it?"

"Sora sailed around the worlds looking for you and a way to get you back. Now, it's your turn to do the same for him."

Riku just stared at the mouse king. He had been suspecting that, and he understood perfectly. The others could help. The others could aid him. They could accompany and give him all the support he needed, but in the end, it was he who had to sort this out. He'd felt it from the moment he'd had to use his Keyblade to open the ruins. He knew it every time he heard the voice in his head. He and Sora were partners, and it was his job to get his partner back.

"Are you prepared to do that?" asked Mickey with a smile.

Riku smiled too. "Yes I am."

---

"Kairi!" Riku called as he jogged down the street toward Aerith's house. He wondered if he might catch them before they got there, and sure enough, he spotted Cloud's hair about a block from Aerith's. Kairi was walking beside him, arms crossed. Even from a distance she looked rigid.

When she heard her name, she stopped but didn't turn around. Cloud did though, looking a bit puzzled at the pair of them. He looked at Riku, then at Kairi. Whatever he saw on her face must have been all the answer he needed for he nodded and continued walking, a bit faster than before.

"Hey, Kai," said Riku, panting a bit from his run as he slowed beside her.

"Hey," she said crisply, eying him. Yep, she was ticked.

"Sorry about that," he said rather lamely.

"Whatever."

"Kai, listen… there's something I haven't told you because I didn't want to upset Ileana any more than she already was, and I don't want the others to know yet either, but… I think you should know."

Her gaze softened. "What is it?"

"I've... been hearing a voice in my head." He bit his lip and waited for her to reply.

After a moment, she finally did. "… Excuse me?"

Riku ran a hand distractedly through his hair. "I'm not insane!" he said quickly. "King Mickey knows about it, and he wants me to listen to it."

"… You've been hearing a voice in your head?" There was a bit of disbelief in her voice.

"Yeah."

"I really shouldn't be surprised… but that's just a little bit disturbing to think about." She tilted her head slightly to the side and examined his face. "Why does the King want you to listen to it?"

"I started hearing it just before Sora went missing. It's sporadic and doesn't make much sense, but the King seems to think it's important, so…" He trailed off. He really was surprised at how well she was taking it. Though, she had accepted the fact that Sora was now an undead mummy, so why should accepting that Riku was schizo be that hard?

"He thinks they're connected?" she provided.

"I _know_ they're connected," he said. "It kept saying stuff about a prince. It was talking about Sora."

She took a moment to digest that, then hung her head with a pained sigh. "This entire situation… is just… awful."

Crap, he hadn't meant to upset her… He hastily pulled her into a hug. "It'll be okay, though, Kai. You'll see. That creepy fucker said it was reversible." He felt her hit his chest with a mortified exclamation of "Riku!" He smirked. "And King Mickey knows we can do it, too."

"You really think we can do it." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I really do."

She chuckled and pulled away from him. Almost shyly, she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and glanced skyward. "It's almost sunset," she said. "Come on." She seized his hand. "We need to hurry so we can get to the study before it gets too late."

"Woah!" She had pulled him with a strength he certainly hadn't known she possessed and now they were running down the street together, both grinning. Riku had the feeling things were about to get a lot better.

---

They burst through Aerith's front door a few minutes later. Cloud was sitting idly on the couch, and he eyed them as they walked in. Kairi was giggling, and Riku was trying to control his grin. He was suddenly in a very good mood, despite the hell and back he had been through in the past few days.

Cloud titled his head back on the couch with a discontented groan. "I'm glad I'm not a teenager anymore."

Riku was mildly offended by this, but he knew the blond was only picking, so he smirked. "Why? Because your teenage years sucked?"

"No. Because apparently _all_ teenagers are hopelessly bipolar."

"Yeah, that's good. Now you're just constantly depressed and angsty instead of cheerful sometimes too."

Cloud actually glared at him for that one.

They were spared any harsh words, though, by Yuffie who materialized in the room a second later. She was closely followed by Aerith, who looked concernedly at the look on Cloud's face. The blond just huffed and leaned back on the couch again.

"We need to get going to the study if we want to drop by Tifa's bar later," said Aerith, smiling when she saw Riku and Kairi. Riku nodded, smirked at Cloud one more time, and exited the house once more.

It wasn't that he wanted to make an enemy of Cloud. That certainly wasn't it. The blond had done more than his fair share of work. He always ran to someone's side if they needed help. He was a friend of Sora's. Recently however… something had changed. Cloud had become more quiet and reserved. He spoke up less than he ever had, which was saying something. Or, actually, not saying anything _at all_. Most of the time the blond looked like he was just on autopilot for everything.

Riku knew it was unfair, but he just couldn't help it: he blamed Leon.

"Hey, Riku," Kairi said suddenly, and Riku snapped out of his daze, "Who's that?" He looked the way she was looking.

Running down the street at full speed toward them was a man in dark clothes. Riku just blinked; he couldn't really make him out at this distance. "I… have no idea."

"Hmm?" Yuffie poked her head around too look too. "Oh, that's Demyx!"

"Oh dear, we haven't told him yet, have we?" Aerith asked, biting her lip. Cloud shook his head as he walked outside too.

"Hey!" Demyx called as he slowed down in front of them. He panted a bit and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Riku didn't know how he had managed to miss that particular hair style even at a distance.

"Hullo, Demyx!" Yuffie chirped cheerfully at him. He smiled.

"Yuffie sweetheart." He let her tug at his hair adoringly for a moment. "Hey guys, I just saw Leon, and he was headed toward the study." Demyx's face grew worried. "He wouldn't say anything, but… what's happened?"

Riku felt his good mood spiraling down instantly. Demyx had always gotten on well with Sora – after he returned with his heart – and the former Nobody seemed to have a soft spot for the boy. All eyes fell on him, and he took a deep breath.

"It's complicated, and you need know that-"

"Demyx!" came a sudden call from the direction he had come from.

"Crap," Demyx muttered, turning around, "I forgot to tell him…"

Down the street walked a man with long silver hair a few shades darker than Riku's. It was pulled into a high ponytail, and even then hung down to the small of his back. His eyes were deep golden, and his skin was rather pale. His pointed Elvin ears were adorned with five metal studs on each to match his eyebrow ring and nose stud. He was dressed casually: jeans, a red shirt, and bare feet.

"Hey, Kioshi!" Yuffie grinned at him. The newcomer grinned too.

"You ran off so fast, Dem, I thought something was on fire," he said. He noticed Kairi and Riku. "Hey, when did you guys get here?"

"Kio!" Demyx said, waving his arms around. "Something really is wrong!" Kioshi blinked. Then his forehead creased, and he too looked to Riku.

Riku took a deep breath and said, "A few days ago… Sora went missing."

_To be continued…_

**Sassy:** Side-plot, ftw!! You all have officially been knocked upside the head with it! I'll let you all ponder for yourselves on that one, but I'd like to hear what you think.

Leave a review or Sora will stay an undead mummy forever.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sassy's Note:** Argh, I apologize for the utter CRAP this chapter has to offer… Sorry, but I just wanted to get it out of the way for bigger things to come. As of right now, I have no idea how long this will be or even when you guys will start understanding both the plot and the sideplot, so just hang tight, okay?

**The World's Heart**

Riku was sure he kept hearing soft sniffles coming from Demyx, but he didn't say anything. Kioshi kept his arm around the Nocturne. Their group was slowly making their way to the study. Riku found himself hoping that Tron had already found _something_ that could help them. He doubted it, though. Tron was as good as any artificial intelligence could be, but researching files like that took time. He knew it could take several days before they had anything, especially if that data was locked or encoded.

Cloud's phone rang half way there, and with a blond eyebrow raised, he answered it, listened to it for a moment, then snapped it shut and stuffed it into his pocket again.

"Leon's yelling at us to hurry because he has no idea what he's doing," he said with an annoyed huff. "As if any of us are computer experts."

"Not an expert," Kioshi said with a shrug, "But I'm apt with computer programs."

"Hey, that's good!" Yuffie spoke up. "You and Riku can tackle the computer together."

Riku blinked. "When was I nominated as knowing _anything_ about computers?"

"You did manage to recover Sora's computer when it crashed that once," mused Kairi.

"Because I was screaming at tech support on the phone for two hours!"

Demyx rubbed at his eyes and chuckled. "Let's put it this way, Riku. Out of _us_, you're the best man for the job."

"Fine. If I completely screw up the DTD, it's not my fault."

---

"What the hell took you people so long?" Leon groused and glared at them as they all walked in the computer room. Cloud met his glare with one of his own, and after a moment, the scarred brunet back down with a sigh.

"Tron can't access the information on his own. It has to be unlocked."

Riku bit back a groan of protest. Great… He glanced at Kioshi. Hopefully he at least knew what to do. The older silver-haired man looked at the terminal.

"So if any of you have any idea where to even begin, have at it," said Leon, crossing his arms and glaring at the machine. Kioshi glanced at Riku, a smile quirking his lips.

"Shall we have a try?"

Riku shrugged. "Why not?"

---

They gave up less than an hour later. Kioshi was cursing almost nonstop, and Riku was developing a slight headache. When the two of them finally stepped away from the terminal, no one was really surprised. Riku hadn't even understood most of the numbers and files they were going through in an attempt to hack the system. He got the feeling Kioshi hadn't either.

"So how the hell are we going to access the data now?" Riku asked no one in particular. They were on the way to Tifa's bar now. The sun had almost completely set, and Riku was thoroughly exhausted.

"Not a clue," said Leon shortly. He was on edge too. Riku personally thought that he was too uptight, but, whatever. None of his business.

They reached a side street that branched off in the directions of the new apartment complex. "Well," said Demyx, coming to a stop. "This is where we leave you guys."

"Leaving so soon, Dem-Dem?" Yuffie asked, giving him puppy eyes. He smiled apologetically at her.

"Yeah, I'm tired and not feeling so great all of a sudden." He grabbed Kioshi's hand. "We'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye, then," said Yuffie, waving. Kioshi waved over his shoulder, then turned back in the direction of their apartment. Riku saw their fingers intertwine and Demyx rest his head on Kio's shoulder.

"Demyx took it pretty hard," said Aerith sadly, watching them go as well.

"He'll bounce back," said Leon. "Demyx never stays upset for very long."

"He's also never had to deal with something like this," said Kairi. She looked worried.

"He'll be fine," said Leon firmly and walked ahead of them. Riku frowned.

"Hey, Cloud," said Yuffie offhandedly. "Go tell your boyfriend to pull all of that leather out of his ass, because he's acting like a real jerk." She said it loud enough for Leon to hear her, but he gave no indication that he did. Just kept walking stiffly ahead of them. Cloud sighed.

"I'll talk to him later," he muttered. He looked horribly unhappy.

---

They met Reno and Rude inside the bar. Reno was nursing what no one doubted to be a very strong drink. Rude was simply sipping on a glass of water. Leon strolled inside and sat down a few seats away from Rude and looked at Tifa, who nodded understandingly and began fiddling with the bottles behind her. The others walked forward and sat at the bar as well.

"Hey, Tifa," Riku greeted the woman with a half smile. She did too, but it was clear from the look on her face that she knew what had happened. She gave Leon his drink – which also looked to be very strong – and then turned to Riku.

"So, you going to be an alcoholic like these guys, or would you rather have a soda?" she teased good-naturedly.

"I don't mind, but I hate soda." She nodded and shuffled off out of Riku's line of sight.

"Hey, that's right," said Kairi from the seat next to him. "Aren't you allergic to soda or something?"

"It clogs my throat so I either hack my lungs out or choke on my own phlegm," said Riku offhandedly. This earned him a few raised eyebrows, but he paid them no mind. It was at that moment that Tifa came back, laughing a bit. She slid a drink his way.

"It has no soda in it, I promise." He accepted the glass as she wandered away toward Rude. The liquid inside was a dark red color with a slice of orange floating somewhere in the middle of a few ice cubes. He took a sip of it and found it to have a tropical taste, much like the drinks found back home on the Islands. He took a larger gulp. It was good alright, and he could definitely taste a bit of rum in there somewhere. Not that he minded. It might help him sleep tonight.

Sleep… simple concept, hard to do. When he was tired, his brain went into overload. It had always been that way, and he was sure when he finally lay down tonight to rest, he'd be replaying the day's events over and over in his head. It wasn't a very pleasant prospect.

He took another gulp of his drink. Cloud was right. He _was_ rather bipolar right now. Speaking of Cloud… Riku looked in the blond's direction. He was sitting beside Leon, but they weren't talking. Leon was staring hard in front of him, and Cloud had his eyes trained on his glass of light amber liquid. He looked so… somber – resolved to the fact that Leon wasn't willing to open up to even him. Riku could only hope that two would talk later, when no one else was around. He remembered that was the way it used to be, back when they were "just friends." He remembered the silent conversations and mutual understandings the bond between them supported. How did a change in their relationship – a change everyone had been expecting – damage that bond so much?

Riku shook his head. Maybe he was reading this all wrong. It was possible they were both just worn from the recent happenings, but Riku could remember a comment made by Sora about the two of them…

"You're miles and miles away, aren't you?" Kairi asked, head propped up on one arm. It startled the silver-haired teen out of his train of thought, and he decided that was probably for the best.

"Just thinking," he said. She poked at her drink – it looked to be the same as Riku's – and took a little sip of it.

"I think everyone is. We're all kinda quiet tonight, even Reno."

"That is unusual." Riku's eyes sought out Reno this time. The usually flamboyant redhead was simply sitting at the bar, occasionally looking around, then looking back down. Was _everyone_ currently depressed? And why had they been perfectly fine a few hours ago? Sure, the situation was horrible, but knowing that there was a way to reverse it had taken a great weight off Riku's chest. Sora wasn't gone; he was just away.

"Hey, Riku?" asked Goofy suddenly, and Riku swiveled around on his stool to face him. "You seen the King anywhere 'round here?"

Riku shook his head. "Not since we got off the gummi."

"Hmm, well, we're gonna go find him. Come on, Donald." The duck quacked irritably. "See ya later."

Kairi waved and Riku nodded as the pair exited the bar. "I hadn't noticed that the King was missing," said Kairi after a moment.

"He didn't follow me after we talked earlier. I… don't know where he went."

"He's rather secretive, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but he knows what he's doing. I get the feeling he knows more about this situation than he's telling us. He's got a bit of a need-to-know attitude about this kind of thing." Riku paused to take another drink. "It's probably why he's a great king."

"You think he's keeping something from us?" Kairi looked rather concerned at this.

"Possibly, but don't worry about it, Kai. We'll know everything when we need to know." She looked discontented but didn't pursue the subject. Riku knew that it was highly likely King Mickey was keeping something from them, but he didn't let it bother him. After all… he hadn't told the King everything himself.

He had told neither Kairi nor King Mickey that Sora had been hearing the voice as well.

---

_"What's up with _that_ face?" Riku asked as he strolled into the brunet's room.__ Sora was sitting on his bed and staring down at his phone._

_"Eh… just talked to Aerith."_

_Riku blinked as he sat down beside his best friend. "Is something wrong?"_

_"You could say that."_

_"What is it?"_

_"Cloud and Leon."_

_"What? Are they having problems already?"_

_"__Kinda__. It's strange, though. Aerith said that Cloud just hasn't been himself since they started seeing each other."_

_"How so?"_

_"Well, you know when I first met him he was always quiet and reserved, but then he opened up after he finally defeated Sephiroth. Now, he's gone back to the way he was. She said he never talks anymore, hardly even to Leon."_

_"__Hn__, what do you __think's__ up with that?"_

_Sora sighed and laid his phone down on the bedside table. "I don't know."_

---

Riku awoke with the sun shining in his eyes, and he rolled away from it irritably. He had been sleeping so well…

_"__It's time, you know."_

This made Riku sit up. "Time for what?" he demanded of it.

And, to his great surprise, the voice _laughed_. _"Time to find yourself._"

_To be continued…_

**Sassy:** Boring, ne? Oh well. This chapter was mainly to establish the relationships between a few of the characters. Meh… anyway, I'm hoping the next chapter will be better, and I KNOW that when I FINALLY get the scene I'm DYING to write, you guys will hate me with a fiery passion. 8D

Leave a review or you'll never found out what's wrong with Cloud.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sassy's Note:** I fail at being technical and computer-savvy, so if any of this doesn't make sense… just ignore it.

**The World's Heart**

Riku stayed with Leon and Cloud, taking up residence in their guestroom at the other end of the hall from their room. He was a bit grateful for that, because he really didn't want to hear anything that could potentially damage his brain coming from their room. He'd slept well that night, though. The rum in his drink had done its job and no sooner had his head hit the pillow than he was blissfully unaware of everything.

He sat in bed for a few minutes, wondering if the voice would offer anything else. When it did not, he scowled and pushed himself out of bed. He ripped the curtains on the window shut, but moved to his bag to get some clothes. He was going back up to the study after breakfast to continue working on cracking the information stored on the worlds. Last night, Tron had said he would work on it so maybe they would have something today.

Riku opened the door and poked his head out into the hallway. He didn't hear anything so he padded softly and quickly to the bathroom across from his room for a quick shower.

When he was finished and dressed, he toweled his hair off, threw his clothes in the hamper and quietly made his way down to the kitchen. He needed coffee _now_.

He managed to avoid the one spot on the stairs that creaked and walked into the kitchen - only to find that someone was up anyway. Cloud was standing in front of the coffee maker, stirring his coffee with a spoon. His hair was tousled more than ever, and he looked like he had just woken up.

"Uh, good morning," said Riku awkwardly. Cloud tilted his head toward the teen in acknowledgement and moved away from the coffee machine. He sat down at the small table and took a large gulp of the coffee in his mug. Riku noticed there were two mugs set out beside the maker, and one was the mug he always used when he visited Radiant Garden. This touched Riku. He hurriedly made his coffee and sat down at the table too.

It was awkward, but Riku visibly saw Cloud ease up a bit. So, Riku drank his coffee in silence, and Cloud did the same, and soon the silence had formed into something more comfortable.

"If you're hungry," said Cloud quite out of the blue, "I can make waffles. It's about the only thing I can make."

Riku grinned. "Sure."

Cloud gave him his patented little half-smile and rose from his seat. Riku watched as Cloud made the batter and poured it into the waffle iron. Riku was slightly surprised. He'd been expecting toaster waffles. Not that he was complaining or anything, but Cloud wasn't the best cook in the world. He was probably closer to the worst.

Cloud served them, and Riku took his first bite. They were _delicious_. Cloud must have seen it on his face, for the blond half-smiled again. "Syrup?" he offered the teen.

They ate in silence until most of the waffles were gone. Riku checked the time. It was almost nine o'clock. He'd never known Leon to stay in bed this late. "Hey, Cloud?"

"Hmm?"

"Is Leon still asleep?"

Cloud froze. "Yes," he said stiffly and busied himself with spreading the syrup across his waffled perfectly even. Riku watched him for a moment, then sighed.

"It's probably not my place to say, but…" Cloud looked up at him, mako eyes dark.

Riku chose his words carefully. "You never look happy anymore, Cloud." He watched Cloud's face carefully and saw a good range of emotions pass over it before the blond just hung his head a bit. He didn't say anything, and Riku started to regret saying anything at all.

"Look, I don't know what's up. It's none of my business, and I know you know people worry about you and a lot of us are worried now. If it has something to do with Leon, talk to him about it. You both look miserable all the time."

It was faint, but Riku heard a whispered, "Okay."

It was then that Riku had to leave. He couldn't stand watching Cloud, whom he really had always admired, break down.

He stood and quickly cleaned up before saying over his shoulder, "I'll be at the study," and exiting the house. Great. He got the feeling he had probably just made things worse.

---

He arrived at the study not long later, and immediately approached the terminal. "Tron? Have you managed to access anything yet?"

"Not yet, but take a look at this." The screen went from a horrible blue color to a grid-like system with boxes in rows. Riku's eyes scanned it. Underneath each box was a freaking million-digit hex code Riku didn't even want to _try_ to understand.

"What is it?"

"This is the exact location of each of the files. Each of the boxes contains the notes on the worlds."

Riku's eyes widened. "So… this is it? We just have to open the files?"

"Correct."

"Okay…" Riku bit his lip in concentration. "How do we open the files?"

"Each file needs a password, and from what it looks like, they're all different." Riku groaned.

"Great… Any idea what the passwords could be?"

"I've tried a few, but Ansem the Wise was thorough with his coding. I can't get into any of them."

"Hmm." Riku stared hard at the little boxes on the screen. "Can you tell which file is for which world?"

"Certainly," said Tron cheerily. It was eerie for a computer to sound like that, in Riku's opinion. "It's all in the name."

"Uhm… how?"

"Here, it's simple." The screen zoomed in on a box the right and the name pulled up higher. "This is the file for Destiny Islands. Look at the file name." Riku did.

_GS/Q7-W4/DES-ISL/PSF__-A/C1/PJ-0_

Okay, well that made little to no sense. "Can you bring up the file name for Radiant Garden so I can compare the two?"

"Certainly!" Another hex code zoomed from somewhere across the screen to flash under the first.

_GS/Q5-W2/RAD-__GAR(__HOL-BAS)/KA-D/C12/PJ-6_

"Okay, I can understand the middle of the file names, but what does all the other stuff mean?" Riku asked Tron. The file name for Radiant Garden returned to its former place while Destiny Islands' enlarged on the screen.

"The first part is simple." Tron highlighted _GS_. "This stands for Gummi Space, meaning that the world is not connected to any other and can only be reached by gummi ships. This next part," _Q7-W4_ was highlighted, "stands for Quadrant 7, World 4. Ansem the Wise apparently divided all the worlds into quadrants and numbered them."

Riku nodded. "And the next is an abbreviation for the actual name of the world."

"Correct."

"Okay, so what's the last part mean?"

"I'm not sure about the next part." _PSF__-A/C1_ was highlighted on the screen. "I'm not sure what Ansem the Wise was coding here."

"That's okay. And that PJ-0?"

"That means that no projects are or were taking place on Destiny Islands. Which brings me to my next point. I think these files are automatically updated without the manual instruction of a User."

"How do you figure?"

"The coding of all the files leaves room for the right program to access the files without the passwords."

Riku frowned. "What program is this?"

"One of Ansem's. It's the one he worked on for the longest."

"So there's no way it can be hacked?"

"Probably not without more coding than it takes to break these files open."

"Okay… can you tell when the last time a file was accessed?"

"Not without first opening the files, but Ansem's program has been self-activated within the past week."

"And there's no way to tell what world was accessed?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Okay… so now our next step is to figure out the passwords."

"Indeed."

"Where should we start?"

"You're most familiar with Destiny Islands." The block representing Destiny Islands blew up on the screen. "Just say a password and I'll try it."

"Uhh…" Riku puzzled a bit, then said, "Destiny." There was a moment's pause then…

_ACCESS DENIED._

"Uhm, okay. Island."

_ACCESS DENIED._

"Tropics."

_ACCESS DENIED._

"Ocean."

_ACCESS DENIED._

"I don't know… Sora."

_ACCESS DENIED._

"Damn it…" He thought that one might have worked.

---

Over fifty failed passwords later, Riku was getting seriously pissed off. There had to be _somewhere_ in Ansem's notes that he had stored the passwords, or at least given a hint to what they may have been.

"Tron," he finally said wearily. "I'm taking a break. See if Ansem may have left any other notes stored in there as to what the passwords may be."

"Yes, User Riku!"

Riku pushed himself away from the terminal and stumbled back into Ansem's study. There, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Kairi's number.

"Hello?" came her voice after a few rings.

"Hey, Kai. It's me."

"Riku? Where are you?"

"I'm in Ansem's study. Tron found all the files. The only problem is getting into them now."

"Why can't you access them?"

"They all need a password, and we have no idea what they could possibly be." Riku rubbed his temples. "I tried guessing the one to Destiny Islands, but got nothing."

"Oh, well… what are you going to do now?"

"Tell Aerith to round up the others. We're about to go through all of Ansem's handwritten notes," he said as he glared at all the books.

"_All_ of them?"

"Do we have any other choice?"

"Well… not really… Okay, then. I'll tell her."

"Hey, Kai…"

"Yes?"

Riku sighed.

"This morning… I talked to Cloud." She said nothing. "I tried not to upset him, but…"

"What did you say?"

"I just said that we were worried about him and Leon. Was that… bad?"

Kairi sighed. "No, I don't think so, but how did he react?"

"Honestly? I thought the man was going to start bawling."

"Well… maybe you helped him out."

"I sure hope so."

"We'll see. I'll get Aerith to call over there and see how they are."

"Okay."

"We'll see you in a bit."

"See you." Riku closed his phone and looked around at the shelves and shelves of books.

This was not going to be fun.

---

It wasn't too long later that Kairi arrived in the study, but by that time Riku had selected a tome that looked promising and had it half-way perused. She walked in, hand on a hip as she examined him hunched over the book like a demented silver bunny rabbit. She laughed a bit, and he looked up.

"What?"

"Nothing," she giggled and slid down on the floor next to him. "Aerith has got the others coming. And she called Cloud." The change in Kairi's voice was evident, and Riku felt a pang of regret again.

"And?"

"He and Leon are coming soon. They talked a bit, but I don't know what about. She left the room."

"Ah." Now Riku felt really guilty.

"Don't worry, Riku. She said they were coming too." He nodded. Well, maybe Cloud had talked to Leon. He really hoped so.

"Well, shall I help or just sit here and look pretty?" asked Kairi. Riku snorted handed another large tome.

"Get started, sweetheart."

---

The next to arrive were Kioshi and Demyx. Riku was relieved when he saw Demyx; the Nocturne was smiling brightly.

"We came to join the study party," he declared happily and snatched up a book. He plopped down on the floor facing Riku.

"I can't believe you're excited about studying," said Kioshi with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey! Be glad Tron did all the work for you on the computer. You kinda fail when it comes to technology, Kio."

"Music is my thing, not machines." He too grabbed a book and sat down beside Demyx.

The former Nobody grinned. "Yah, that's why I love you," he said, winking at his boyfriend. Kioshi just brushed it off, but his cheeks colored a bit.

Only a few minutes later, the next pair arrived. Riku heard heavy footsteps and looked up. In walked Reno and Rude. The redhead glared down at the blond spiked head in front of him for a moment, then calmly reached down and whapped Demyx fairly hard with his EMR.

The Nocturne yelped and twisted around. "What was _that_ for!"

"For not even botherin' to come say hey to me last night." Reno took a pull on his cigarette. "Brat," he added fondly, lips quirking upward.

Kioshi was shaking with silent laughter beside Demyx, who glared at him and rubbed his head where Reno had hit him.

"What? I don't even get an apology?" Reno demanded of him.

"Not after that!" Demyx pouted.

"Oh, get over it. Have your Kio kiss it and make it better." Reno glanced at Riku and Kairi. He sighed. "Gotta do some work, huh?"

"It would be greatly appreciated," said Riku, offering Reno a book.

Reno took it with a great sigh and sat down cross-legged on Demyx's other side, despite the Nocturne's indignant squawk. Rude, too, picked one up, but he chose to sit at the desk rather than on the floor with the others.

It was awhile before the others showed up. Riku had managed to skim through two more huge tomes before he heard Yuffie's cheerful voice filtering through the halls. They all looked toward the doorway, and in walked Aerith, Yuffie, Leon, and Cloud. Riku tried to hide his wince when he saw the blond. He hoped he wasn't going to get his ass kicked. Cloud looked normal enough, though, and so did Leon.

"Great. This is going to take forever," Yuffie sighed.

"It'll go much faster if you hurry up and get busy, yo."

"Shut up, Turk, or I will kick your ass," she huffed at Reno. Riku handed her a book and she fell back on the floor, dully opening it. Aerith, Leon, and Cloud grabbed a stack as well.

Riku was surprised when Cloud sat down beside him. When he cut his eyes over at the blond, he found Cloud's crystal-blue gaze upon him.

"Thanks," Cloud mouthed at him, and he gave his half-smile again.

Riku blinked, then grinned and bent over his book again. Maybe now things would start going better for the blond.

Oh, how wrong he was.

---

Get up, eat breakfast, go to the study, break for lunch around noon, return to the study, have dinner at the bar, go home and sleep. Wake up the next morning, return to the study, and do it all over again.

This was the daily schedule for them for three days running now. They had managed to knock out a fairly large chunk of the books in the study, and still they had nothing. All the notes Tron found gave them no indication either. Everyone was annoyed and tempers were running rather high, so looking back, Riku wasn't surprised when all hell broke loose on that third day.

He remembered that it started the night before. He didn't know what had sparked it, but harsh words between Leon and Reno had resulted in the redhead storming out of Tifa's bar. He had shown up at the library the next morning with Rude, same as always, but he didn't sit beside Demyx and Kioshi. He sat at the desk with Rude, and didn't look up from his books until lunch.

Riku didn't even know what had been said, but he didn't puzzle over it long before going to work. He was sure they were getting close. They _had_ to be.

Riku was the first one back at the study after lunch. He seized the book he had been browsing and flipped through it again. Ansem had made some notes on the neighboring worlds – nothing too involved but it was something. Kairi joined him not too long after that, and without a word she took up her place and started on another book.

It was only a few minutes later when they both heard it.

"_YOU FUCKIN'__ KNOW WHAT, LEONHART!__ I CAN'__T __FUCKIN'__ TAKE THIS ANY MORE!!_"

Both of them jumped, and Kairi's eyes flew toward the doorway of the study.

"Riku… was that… Reno?"

Riku stood up. "I think so."

They ran out into the hallway together, and the scene that met them wasn't pretty at all.

Reno had his back to them, but even from their viewpoint, he was livid. Leon stood a good six feet in front of him, and he was almost as angry as Reno was. Aerith, Yuffie, Demyx, and Kioshi were huddled together behind Leon, all of them looking utterly horrified. Cloud was pressed against the span of wall between Leon and Reno and his eyes, too, were horror-struck.

"_You're not the only one who can't put up with this anymore, Turk!!"_ Leon yelled at the redhead, his voice reverberating off the tiled walls.

"_You don't even know what the fuck you're talking about_" Reno screeched, chest heaving. "_Take your goddamned insecurity and __fuckin__' go somewhere else!! I'm NOT trying to steal your goddamned boyfriend!!_"

"_What am I SUPPOSED to think, Reno, with the way you've been acting around him!?_"

This seemed to do it for Reno, for he snarled and drew himself up. Pointing a shaking hand at the mortified blond, he screamed, "_AT LEAST I DON'T TREAT HIM LIKE FUCKIN' DIRT!!_"

And, quite suddenly, Riku understood.

_To be continued…_

**Sassy:** Wow, those boys can scream, can't they?

Leave a review or you'll never know what they're hollering about.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sassy's Note:** 8D Hate me yet?

**The World's Heart**

_"Know what, Riku?"_

_"Hmm?"_

_"I think Reno has a crush on Cloud."_

_"… __what__?"_

_Sora grinned at him as he hung upside-down from a tree branch. "He does."_

_Riku raised a silver eyebrow at the brunet. "And just how do you figure that?"_

_"I __dunno__," said Sora with a shrug that looked rather awkward from his position. "It's just __kinda__ obvious."_

_"I think you've lost your mind," Riku sighed, and looked back down at his book. Sora pouted and crossed his arms._

_"I'm serious, Riku!"_

_"So am I, Sora."_

_"Don't mock me."_

_Riku looked back up at him. "That's a bit hard to do when you're hanging like an ape from a tree, dude."_

_Sora shook his head and righted himself on the branch before jumping down onto the sand.__ "Okay. Now will you take me seriously?"_

_Riku paused as though pondering __over it __for a moment, then said simply, "No."_

_"You're an ass, you know that?"_

_"Uh huh."_

_"Reno has a crush on Cloud. So there."_

---

Riku had never believed Sora until _now_ when it was plainly obvious. All the sidelong glances the redhead had given Cloud, all the depressed sighs he had issued as Cloud walked away with Leon, all the times Reno had jumped to Cloud's defense when even Leon disagreed with the blond all came flooding back to Riku's mind, and he now could see what Sora had seen. He understood now.

Reno was jealous of Leon for being with Cloud.

Leon was distant from Cloud, but when he felt threatened by Reno, he immediately went on the defensive.

Cloud was caught somewhere in the middle and not happy at all.

Leon stood deadly still. His eyes narrowed, and his voice became a soft, venomous hiss. "Treat him like dirt? You think I treat him like dirt? Okay, we'll look at it from _your_ way. I treat Cloud like dirt, and you treat him like a prize you're trying to win."

Riku saw Reno's fist clench, and he knew it was taking all the self-control the redhead possessed not to haul off and hit Leon. "I was wrong," said Reno, grinding his teeth. "You know what you're real problem is, _Squall_? You don't know how to _deal_." He drew in a ragged breath. "Well, here's a newsflash, we _all_ have issues, Leonhart!"

Reno's rage flared up again. "We ALL have problems! It's just YOU who doesn't know how to fuckin' DEAL with them! If you can't be in a fucking relationship and treat your lover like you ACTUALLY _love him_, then don't start one in the _goddamned first place_!!"

Leon bristled and raised his fists as well. "_You can't honestly-_"

"Shut the _fuck up_!!I am _not _done!" Leon fell silent, and Reno cast a glance at Cloud before speaking to the scarred brunet again. "You've done _nothing_ but turn into a COMPLETE JACKASS ever since the two of you got together! You say you care for him; you say you're happy; you act so overprotective of him is fucking _anal_, but if all of that _bullshit_ is true, then why can't you see how _unhappy_ he is!! Ever since this whole mess with Sora started, you've been more of a fuck-off than ever before. Sure, at first, you were supportive, and actually CARED enough to REASSURE your boyfriend that everything would be _okay_, but after that!? I haven't seen you say _two_ goddamned _words_ to Cloud!!"

Leon was finally given the chance to speak his mind as well, and oh how he did. "You have _no right_ to judge, you fucking Turk!! Your answer to everything is just to run off and _get damn-well drunk out of your mind_! You say I'm the one who doesn't know how to deal? Look in a _fucking_ mirror! All you've done since Sora went missing is go around chasing after Cloud like a lost kitten!"

And then Reno's anger became palpable, and Riku knew it had all hit the fan now. He took a step back closer to Kairi as if to block her if pieces of the wall started to fly.

"Cloud," said Reno simply, but his tone was enough to make the blond in question wince and try ever harder to merge back with the wall. "Cloud Strife. Strife. _Strife.__ Cloud FUCKING Strife!!__ Here's a piece of advice for you, Leonhart!! THE WORLD DOES NOT FUCKING REVOLVE AROUND CLOUD STRIFE!!_"

This declaration seemed to shock and confuse just about everyone in the room, especially Cloud. He turned his head to Reno, and Riku saw a bit of hurt shining in his eyes – but Reno didn't look ready to stop there.

It was Leon, however, who got the next words in. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked incredulously. "First you say I'm not treating Cloud right, then you say I think the world revolves around him?" He sneered. "You're not making _any_ sense!"

"I'm making _perfect_ sense!!" Reno snarled viciously. "To you, it's ALL about _Cloud Strife_, but instead of treating him like an actual _person_, you treat him like prized possession you're afraid of someone taking away! That's all you've been _doing_ all these past _weeks_! Yeah, I'll admit right here, right now: I AM ATTRACTED TO CLOUD STRIFE! See, I said it, but you know what, Leonhart, I can still see that there are other things in this world that that take priority OTHER than GUARDING _Cloud Strife_."

At Leon's outraged look, Reno lost it again.

"_If you'd pull your head out of your ass, maybe you'd see that!! You've SOMEHOW managed to project__ a__ll the ill fucking emotions your feeling about Sora__'s __circumstances__ onto CLOUD! You__ think this entire situation is about ME __trying to steal CLOUD from you! How about you GET OVER YOURSELF and start looking at your BOYFRIEND as a HUMAN BEING __then you'd get over this RETARDED need you have to hold him away from the world and start worrying about SOMETHING ELSE other than someone trying to STEAL HIM AWAY!!"_

_"THEN STOP TRYING TO!!" _Leon managed to shout.

Reno actually laughed at this, but it was a horrible sound. When he spoke, his voice was even. "Still on that, Leonhart? You really think I'd do that? Well, let me tell you something, fucker, even I'm not that _fucked up_! Maybe if you'd be the one to comfort Cloud, give him the affection that you obviously haven't been, I wouldn't have to be the one trying to get the poor guy to just _smile_!"

At this, Cloud's eyes fell to the floor, and they shone unusually bright. He looked… like he might start crying.

Reno stood up straight, waves of anger still flowing off him, but he looked calmer. "And one more thing, Leonhart," he said, voice deadly. "Don't run up to me and blame me for trying to steal Cloud away when _you're_ the one who's been neglecting him."

Reno, back straight and proud, walked forward a few steps. He turned to Cloud; his eyes softened. "I'm sorry, Cloud. I didn't mean to cause nothin'." The blond just stared back at him, face emotionless and eyes shining. "See ya later, yo." The redhead shoved by Leon and walked ever so calmly down the twisting hallways and out of sight.

For a moment, everyone was silent. Then, Cloud slid down the wall to the floor and covered his face with his hands.

---

Riku was rather numb as he and the others made their way to Tifa's bar. Why hadn't he seen it before now? Looking back it was _so_ obvious. He wondered how Sora had been able to see it but he hadn't.

Everyone was silent. Demyx was worriedly gnawing his fingernails away, and Riku got the feeling that the Nocturne had known all along about Reno's feelings for Cloud. After all, Reno and Demyx were really good friends.

They made it to the bar and quietly slipped inside. To Riku's surprise, Rude was sitting at the bar, conversing in low tones with Tifa. Reno was nowhere to be see, but Riku hadn't expected the redhead to be _anywhere_ in the near vicinity. When Rude felt the presence of the somber group, he turned his head slightly. Tifa followed his gaze, and she sighed sadly when she saw them, obviously noting that neither Reno nor Leon and Cloud were with them.

It was after Reno stormed off that Riku, Kairi, Yuffie, Aerith, Kioshi, and Demyx had slipped away from the study without a word to Cloud and Leon. Riku didn't even want to image the conversation the two men were undoubted having right then.

"Stiff drinks all around, then?" Tifa asked with a strained smile. Demyx was the first to take a seat at the bar, and he rested his head on his arms.

"Yes," he said with a whine in his voice. Kioshi sidled beside him and rubbed between his shoulder blades.

"Don't worry yourself too much, Demyx," said Rude suddenly. "This encounter has been coming for a long time."

Riku moved in closer to the large Turk. "You knew?"

Rude shrugged. "I could tell both Leon and Reno were reaching a breaking point with each other. This morning, the way Reno acted… I knew something was going to happen."

"So you steered clear? Good job, big guy," said Yuffie, hopping up onto a stool. Tifa eyed the ninja for a moment and then sent a glass of lemonade her way. Yuffie almost seemed offended when she realized it had no alcohol in it.

When Tifa had given drinks to everyone else – yes, all of them were strong, save for Yuffie's who did not _need_ alcohol – she sat down with them. She looked worried. "I wonder how Cloud is going to handle this."

Aerith's eyes fell as she took a sip of her drink. Riku had never actually seen her drink anything alcoholic but champagne. "I don't know." She bit her lip. "But whatever happens…"

"Yeah." Tifa nodded. "We'll be here."

The group went silent for awhile. Riku just kept playing the encounter over and over in his mind. On top of everything else, this was really going to screw everyone up. He could hardly imagine what Cloud was dealing with. For that matter, Riku found his sympathies with Reno as well.

It wasn't that Riku was blaming this on Leon, but looking over the situation, he found Leon to be in the wrong more than anyone. He himself had noticed the coldness the scarred man had shown to his lover, a lover who used to be the closest thing to a best friend the man ever had.

"Hey… hey, guys," Kioshi said slowly. Everyone looked at him. "Uhm, I know this probably isn't the best time for this, but… has anyone talked to… Valeria?"

Riku stared at the silver-haired musician. Then, his blood ran cold.

They had completely forgotten to get in touch with Sora's girlfriend.

_To be continued…_

**Sassy:** Mwahahaha. Thought I'd forgotten about Valeria? Nope. Just who is Valeria? You'll see.

Leave a review or you will have to wait a long, **_long_** time for the next chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sassy's Note:** Wow, I'm just not giving them any breaks, am I? Sorry for all the romantic drama going on recently. We'll get back to the action-suspense in a bit.

**The World's Heart**

If Demyx had been freaking out before, the poor boy was about to have a conniption fit now. He had gnawed all his fingernails completely away and had just recently taken up pulling at the stray locks of hair framing his face. Riku had never really noticed the Nocturne's caring and concerned nature until now. No wonder he had found his heart so easily.

Kioshi had been gone for nearly fifteen minutes now. It was decided that he should be the one to call Valeria, who was worlds and worlds away. She was his older sister, after all. Maybe Kio could dull the shock for her.

He had been gone for so long, though, and everyone was on edge. Kairi looked close to tears. She knew just as well as Riku did that Valeria would not likely take this news easy. The girl was very sensitive. Riku just gulped on his drink; it seemed the right thing to do.

When the bar door opened and Kioshi finally walked back in, his face was drained of all color. Everyone looked at him, waiting for any explanation whatsoever.

"Kio?" Demyx asked softly.

"She…" Kioshi started, then swallowed and tried again. "I've… got to go see her."

Riku winced at that. No, Valeria obviously hadn't taken it well at all. Demyx slid off his stool and approached Kioshi. His hand brushed his boyfriend's.

"I'll go with you," he said, but Kio shook his head.

"The fastest gummi I can use only seats one, Dem. Sorry, but I've got to go alone." Demyx looked a bit put out, and he chewed on his lip for a moment, but eventually conceded.

"Okay. I understand." He then grinned at the silver-haired man. "Can I at least walk you to the gummi garage?"

---

Demyx and Kioshi had been gone for half an hour. Riku was now sufficiently buzzed, and he had the feeling he wasn't the only one. Kairi's cheeks were a nice rosy color, and she was giggling at almost everything anyone said. He found himself glad the alcohol had lightened her mood considerably. Too bad it wasn't working for him.

When Tifa offered to refill his glass for the third time, he declined. He'd never been fully drunk before and didn't exactly want his first time to be now. He gulped down some water as soon as Tifa had given it to him, hoping it would diffuse a bit of the alcohol in his system.

Demyx returned not long after that. He slid back onto his original stool and returned to nursing his drink, a little more vigorously than before. When he noticed that everyone was looking at him, he sighed. "Kio's going to call me when he gets there."

"How long will that take?" Aerith asked.

The Nocturne shrugged. "I dunno. Probably not until early tomorrow morning. His home world is pretty far away."

Riku sighed, and drank a bit more water.

---

"Hey, Riku?" asked Kairi from beside him. He looked over at her. "Let's go… I don't think I can stand to be here anymore."

"Can you even stand at all?" he teased, sliding off his stool.

"I'm not drunk!" she protested, wavering a bit as she got to her feet as well. Riku shook his head and put an arm around her shoulders. Drunk, maybe not. Tipsy, hell yes.

"Going home?" Aerith asked, swiveling around.

Riku nodded. "If it's okay, I think I'll stay with you tonight." He had a feeling Cloud and Leon's place wouldn't be the best place to be tonight.

With an understanding look, she nodded.

---

"Told you I wasn't drunk," Kairi said, closing the door behind them once they had reached Aerith's house.

Riku snorted. "…Because you only tripped a few times, right?"

"I didn't miss you stumbling a few minutes ago."

"The ground was uneven."

"And I'm sure that poses a problem to you as well when you haven't been drinking," she said sarcastically. She flipped a switch, and light flooded Aerith's nicely furnished living room. "Aerith probably won't be home until she hears from Cloud or Leon."

"Probably not." He looked outside. The sun would be setting before too long, and it had been a long, long day. The tedious hours of going through books and books and occasionally trying out a password or two with Tron had caught up with him, not to mention everything that had happened today.

"Kai, let's take a nap," he said.

"And sleep off a perfectly good buzz?" she teased with a grin.

"Yeah, I don't really like the feeling."

"Me neither," she admitted with a slight frown as she rubbed at her forehead. "Come on."

She led him upstairs and down the short hallway. He was more than a little surprised when she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside her room. He raised his eyebrow at her. Sure, they'd slept in the same room, the same bed before, but they had been at most eight years old with a snoring Sora nestled between them.

She must have been thinking the same thing he was, for she smiled almost sheepishly. "I don't want to be alone right now."

_That_ tugged at his heart, and he found himself unable to say no. Instead, he flopped ungracefully down onto the bed, and Kairi, with a smile, fell down beside him. They shuffled around to get comfortable, kicked off their shoes and pulled pillows under their heads. Lying side by side was oddly comforting to Riku as well, and he felt his drowsiness increase tenfold.

"I miss Sora," Kairi said quietly after a few minutes.

"Me too," he admitted. "It's almost… surreal that he's not here."

"That's a good word for it." She closed her eyes. "Riku?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you think it's like where he is?"

Riku frowned. "What?"

"Sora's not dead," she whispered. "So… is he in a coma? Or can he feel and hear? Is he aware of where he is? Does he know where we are and that we're trying to get him back?"

The silver-haired teen's throat tightened. Those questions had never come to his mind. He always assumed Sora was… sleeping. He'd seen his body, after all, and while that horrible, shrunken _corpse_ was indeed Sora's, Riku never believed that Sora was still in there. His subconscious – soul or heart or whatever one wanted to call it – had to be somewhere else. Floating, maybe – somewhere in the ruins. That seemed like the right idea: Sora was just in a state of coma.

_"The Prince watches over his world."_

Upon hearing the voice, Riku jerked upright, and Kairi immediately sat up as well.

"What's wrong?" she asked, but Riku held up a hand to silence her.

"How does he watch?" he asked the voice quietly.

_"He is not always asleep."_

"So he is aware of his surroundings?"

_"He is aware of his entire world."_

"His world? Destiny Islands?"

The voice did not reply. "Hey, wait a minute!" Riku demanded. "Don't just spout all this then leave!" The voice didn't come back. Riku made an angry noise in the back of his throat and ran a hand through his hair.

Kairi stared at him, eyes wide. "R-Riku? What…?"

He shook his head with a growl then turned to her. "Sorry. That was… the voice. I guess it was listening in on us."

"What did it say?"

"It said that Sora… is aware of what happens on his world – on Destiny Islands, I guess."

"So… he knows that you tried to save him." It was a statement, not a question, and Kairi's voice was steady. She did this sometimes, Riku noticed. She just _knew_ some things.

Riku bit his lip. "Maybe…"

"No, I know so," she said firmly. "I'm a Princess of Heart. I know these things. My heart tells me, and I know."

He grinned slightly. "Princess of Heart and Prince of Destiny. Wonder what that makes me."

Kairi smiled at him. "You're Riku, and that's all you need to be because we love you."

"Oh, I'm touched now," he said with a smirk, but he really _was_ touched at her words.

"You should be." She stifled a yawn. "Well, I'm glad your voice friend came for a visit, but I really want that nap."

"Yeah, me too." He settled back against his pillow and she did the same.

"Is it strange that I'm glad your little friend had something to say?" she asked after a moment.

"No. It made me feel… better, knowing Sora is aware of things."

"You know, we're blindingly trust this voice," she said casually. "What if it's lying to us? What if it's been lying to you?"

Riku just shrugged. "Then it is, but… it's just reassuring, and you just said yourself that you were sure what it said a moment ago was true."

"Yeah…" She yawned.

"Heh, goodnight, Kai."

"Night, Riku."

They drifted off to sleep.

Some time later, long after the sun had gone down, Kairi latched onto Riku and rested her head on his shoulder, and they slept on.

---

Rain was pitter-pattering on the window when Riku opened his bleary eyes. It was still dark, that much was for sure, but he wasn't sure what time it was or how long they had slept. His buzz had sufficiently gone away, though. He figured it must be after midnight.

Then, he heard quick footsteps. Strange, he thought, until he listened harder. Someone was knocking at the front door.

Careful so not to awaken Kairi, he slid out from the bed. He blinked and rubbed feeling back into his shoulder, which she had been using in substitute for a pillow. He didn't know Kairi was such a cuddle bug in bed, but his mind didn't stay on it. He was more concerned with who was knocking on Aerith's door in the middle of the night.

As quietly as he could, he opened the door and padded out into the hallway. Slowly, he peeked over the railing to see Aerith scampering to the door. She was in a housecoat and probably had been asleep. Riku glanced at the clock on the wall behind him. It was three in the morning.

His attention was drawn back to the scene below him when he heard the door open and Aerith gasp. Honestly, he wasn't all too surprised at what he saw. Dripping wet and looking utterly miserable, Cloud stood there, staring desolately at Aerith with shining blue eyes. He looked like he'd been out in the rain for hours. Riku thought he probably had been.

Without a word Aerith stood to the side and ushered Cloud in, where he stood still, looking for all the world to Riku like an abused puppy. Aerith ran off and returned a second later with a stack of fluffy towels. She threw one over Cloud's head and wrapped the other around his shoulders. He stood there and let her, making at least a bit of an attempt to towel his soaking hair off. She deftly pulled his gloves off and threw them down near the door and helped him out of his boots and other items of clothing that could be taken off his person. Riku noticed he didn't even have his Buster Sword with him.

It was only after a few minutes of fussing over the blond man and stripping him of all unnecessary clothes, including his shirt, that Aerith spoke. She rested her hands on his shoulders and looked up into his mako eyes.

"Cloud?"

The blond wouldn't make eye contact but kept his gaze trained on the floor. Riku knew that wasn't a good sign. Of course, just seeing Cloud like this wasn't very promising either.

"Cloud, come on, what happened?" she prodded gently, giving his shoulders a comforting squeeze.

He sighed, and Riku had never heard _anything_ sound so sad before in his life. He suddenly had the urge to beat the ungodly _hell_ out of Squall Leonhart, and while he was at it, get Reno too, just because he could and just because those two bastards _deserved_ it.

"It's over," Cloud said simply, and neither Riku nor Aerith wondered what that meant.

Riku silently slipped back down the hall toward Kairi's room, his heart hammering against his rib cage. He shut the door behind him and was careful when he crawled back into bed. When he looked at Kairi, though, her wide blue eyes were open and worried, shining in the darkness.

"What's going on?" she asked in a whisper.

"Cloud's here," he said, snaking his arm around her.

"And?"

"He and Leon are over."

Her eyes fell and she let her forehead rest on his shoulder.

_To be continued…_

**Sassy:** I DON'T hate Leon, I really DON'T!! I've just got to mess with him a bit.

Leave a review or you will have to wait a long, _**long**_time for the next chapter.


	11. Intermission 1

**INTERMISSION 1**

Once upon a time there was a bunny, and he was a silver bunny, and he was a demented bunny. He would crouch over large books all day long, looking for a password that would save his best friend's life.

Only he could never find the password. He became grouchy as he grew older because going through all those books over a long period of time will do that to demented bunnies.

It turns out that one day he got so frustrated that he just exploded. His friend's life was never saved, and all his other friends had to pick little bits of demented silver bunny rabbit off of all the books.

**NOW BACK TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED FANFICTION**

**Sassy:** I was incredibly bored, and the image of Riku as a demented bunny refused to leave my mind. Now he's exploded and I feel better. Haha, Riku. Haha.

Am I going to hell for this?

I'll probably do one these every ten chapters or so. Be afraid.


	12. Chapter 11

**Sassy's Note:** -snort- I apologize for the previous intermission… couldn't help myself. Anyway, let's push the plot along! 8D

**The World's Heart**

Riku could hardly sleep the rest of that night. He could hear Aerith and Cloud talking downstairs, and while he couldn't make out what they were saying, he could hear the tone of their voices. Cloud sounded thoroughly dejected, but his voice was steady and he talked more than Riku had ever heard him talk in one go. He got the feeling that Cloud was not quite as upset with breaking up with Leon as he was with the confrontation between the three men.

Finally, when day broke, the voices died away, and Riku couldn't stand lying in that bed any longer. Kairi had managed to drift off to sleep again, snuggled up tight to his side. For the second time in not many hours, he extracted himself from her. Being sure not to awaken her, he pulled his shoes on and quietly exited the room. He paused there and listened. When he heard nothing, he moved stealthily to the railing and peered over. Cloud and Aerith were nowhere to be seen.

He took the stairs three at a time, and in seconds he was out of the house. The warm morning sun beat down gently on him, and he heaved a sigh of relief.

First things first, he needed coffee. After digging around in his pockets to make sure he had munny, he headed off to the newly-built café he had taken a liking too.

A brief seven minutes later, the silver-haired teen was sipping coffee from an extra large sized cup and making his way to Ansem's study. Even with everything going on, they still had work to be done. He couldn't think of any other way to preoccupy his time with anyway.

As he made his way there leisurely, he thought about what the voice had told him last night. He knew he should tell King Mickey what had happened, but where the mouse was now was anyone's guess. He certainly had no idea. Like Kairi had said, the King had his own secrets.

Riku didn't even pretend to himself that it didn't bother him. Sora was _his_ best friend. _He_ had grown up with Sora. He thought he had the right to know everything the King did, but he trusted the King too much to confront him. Maybe there were some things he didn't _want_ to know. After all, his reaction to seeing Sora in the tomb had… not been good at all.

Though, while he was thinking about it, he realized that last night had been the first time the voice had responded to him more than once. What did _that _mean? Riku found it eerie, thinking back. Even if he hadn't thought it disturbing at the time, now his mind was clear enough to think that a disembodied voice having a conversation with him was horribly unsettling. Had Sora not told him he could hear it too, Riku really would have thought he was going crazy.

It wasn't a very comforting idea.

He didn't dwell on it though. If Kairi trusted it, so did he. He had learned – the hard way – always to trust a Princess of Heart.

He reached Ansem's study with half his cup of coffee left. The place was exactly as it had been when he last saw it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he half expected it to be trashed, despite the fact that he hardly pinned Leon and Cloud to be the domestic violence type. Maybe it was the fact that there was no real evidence aside from Cloud's word that it was over that unnerved him so much.

He sighed and took a large gulp of his coffee. No time to think, now. It was time to get to work. He visited the computer room first.

"Any luck, Tron?"

"Not so much, User Riku," came Tron's voice. "All of the files are sealed shut. Only the passwords can help us out now."

"And still nothing on what the passwords could be?"

"Not in these files, but I'm sure Ansem the Wise must have written them down in his notes and reports somewhere. He wouldn't have left valuable information on the DTD inaccessible."

Riku nodded. "Okay. I'll just keep looking then."

"I have no doubts that you'll find it. Just remember that Ansem was a clever man. You may have to unlock a puzzle to find the passwords."

"I'll… remember that."

Well, that wasn't a comforting thought.

---

Riku decided that going through each and every one of the tomes was pointless, so he narrowed his search. He would now only go through volumes specifically labeled to be notes on the worlds specifically or notes on the DTD. Ansem had plenty of both; there was no way he could be disappointed.

The silver-haired teen poured over the books, but nothing jumped out at him. Nothing even seemed like it could be a code or puzzle Ansem devised.

He did, however, come across a few interesting passages.

_It is my theory that there are an infinite number of worlds all coexi__sting in the same vast universe, and this infinite number never varies. Whenever a world comes to its end, another world comes to life and replaces it.__ This new world is only limited by the boundaries of one's own imagination and can be anything the original inhabitants wish it to be. After a period of formation, the world takes its permanent form and settles in the mind of his occupants as what it was meant to be._

Riku's eyebrows rose after reading that. He didn't fully understand, but the thought process was certainly intriguing. There were several more articles such as that. Some sounded farfetched; some were believable; and some Riku knew to be proven fact. It _almost_ made him want to continue Ansem's research where it was left off.

The teen snorted. When and if that ever happened, it would be after he had Sora back. Of course, from the way things were looking, that could take a while.

For a good few hours the teen poured over the books, considering what could or could not be a hidden message. It would really help if he even had the faintest idea of what he was looking for.

Riku was so preoccupied with studying a rather detailed description of the workings of Gummi Space that he did not hear Kairi enter the study. She stood in the doorway for a minute, arms crossed, looking thoroughly amused. Demented silver bunny rabbit indeed.

"Any luck?" she asked, making him jump. She giggled.

"Ah, no. None at all."

She sighed. "Looks like we'll be here awhile longer, huh?"

"Yeah."

She sat down beside him and pulled a stack of books toward her. She paused for a moment, before taking one off of the top and opening it.

"It looks like… Cloud will be staying with Aerith for a while."

"Did you see him this morning?" Riku asked, looking up from his book.

Kairi nodded. "He looks okay, but he's really quiet."

"He's all depressed, then."

"Well… maybe. I gave him a hug, and he smiled. God, he has a _gorgeous_ smile!" Riku rolled his eyes at that, but Kairi carried on. "Anyway, he looks more thoughtful than upset."

"I think he's relieved the relationship was over," said Riku. "Cloud and Leon make better friends than lovers."

"I kinda got that vibe from him too," the girl agreed. "I didn't stick around though. Tifa got there just as I was leaving."

"Good. She and Aerith can make him feel better."

"Heh. Cloud's just one of the girls."

Riku chuckled. He couldn't deny that that was true. They dropped the subject soon after, and Riku got the distinct impression both of them would rather not think about it. They already had enough to worry about with going through all of these notes.

"Hey guys," said Demyx sheepishly from the doorway, and they both looked up at him.

"Hey, Demyx," Kairi chirped with a grin.

"Came to help. Haven't got anything better to do."

"The more the merrier," said Riku, gesturing to all the stacks of books he had piled on the floor. Demyx grinned and sat down.

"Have you heard from Kioshi?" Kairi asked him.

The Nocturne nodded. "Yeah. He got there okay, and he's with Vale."

"How is she?" Riku asked.

"Really upset," Demyx said, biting his lip. "You know, Sora actually called her the night before you guys couldn't find him."

Riku paused halfway through turning a page of his book. He stared hard at Demyx, hardly daring to believe what had just come out of his mouth. The night before… that would be the night he had been acting so strange. Sora had to have called her _after_ he had retired to his room. God, what did _this_ mean?

"Sora called Valeria the night he went missing?" Riku asked. At a nod from Demyx, he began cursing, which he did for a few therapeutic moments. "Do you know what was said when he called her?" he asked finally.

"She told Kioshi about it," said Demyx. "And he told me. It was pretty late when he called her, and she asked him if something was wrong. She could tell something wasn't exactly right because he said he just wanted to hear her voice. They talked for a bit, and then before he hung up he said he really liked her and that he really wanted to see her again soon, but he wasn't sure if he would."

Kairi covered her mouth with her hand. Riku shook his head. So that was it, wasn't it? Sora couldn't forget about that door and the voice. He had gone to the island on his own and of his own volition. He knew he might not come back. He opened the door. He faced the Heartless alone, and he had been overwhelmed.

Riku's stomach churned unpleasantly. He had suspected this all along, but he hadn't wanted to believe it. This was proof, though, but he couldn't understand _why_ Sora would march off on his own. Sora_ never_ acted on his own. He _always_ worked with a team. It made no sense at all.

Then again… Riku knew more than anyone the lengths someone will go to with someone else's voice whispering in their ear.

---

They let the subject of Sora drop. Kairi and Demyx discussed a bit about the Restoration, but that just brought up the subject of Cloud and Leon, which they quickly dropped as well. Riku remained quiet, and in the end Demyx and Kairi did as well. They all three concentrated on what they were reading. A few passages of interest caught their eyes, but even with the three of them studying over them, they came up with nothing. They just marked the sections and set them aside to look over it later.

About noon, Demyx ran to grab them some lunch. They had heard from no one, but Riku wasn't surprised. Leon was probably held up in house angsting. Cloud was probably held up at Aerith's house with said brunette and Tifa angsting. Reno was probably somewhere drinking heavily with Rude and angsting. Kioshi was worlds away, and Yuffie never got any work done anyway. Riku resigned himself to the fact that it would just be the three of them until at least part of this whole mess was resolved.

He exhaled a deep breath and shut his book. He let his head fall back to rest on the desk behind him. Kairi looked over at him, concern etched into her face.

"You okay?"

Strange question, he thought. "Okay" could refer to many things that were not necessarily "okay." However, it wasn't her fault that all of this happened, and the recent news did not give him the right to be a jackass.

"Yeah. I'm okay," he said after a minute. "Just a bit…"

"Confused?" she prompted. At his reluctant nod, she sighed sadly. "Yeah. This all seems so strange, and just when I think I understand, it turns out I don't. I just wish we knew for sure what happened to him."

She looked so upset, and Riku wanted to hug her and comfort her, but he just couldn't bring himself to move. Instead, he held his hand out to her. She looked from it to his face then slowly reached out and took it. He interlocked their fingers and brushed his thumb over her soft skin. A rosy blush spread over her cheeks, but Riku had closed his eyes again and hadn't noticed. He hadn't forgotten just how nice human contact felt.

"I return triumphant with sandwiches!" came a cheerful voice from the doorway of the study. Demyx came bouncing in carrying a huge paper sack. "Yeah, so I don't know what you guys like so I panicked and got two of everything."

Kairi giggled, and Riku's lips quirked upward just a bit.

---

It was a few hours after they had eaten. Nothing of great interest had happened, and Riku could tell all three of them were more than willing to give up for the day.

He was about to call it quits when a passage in the book he'd been perusing caught his eyes. This particular tome contained notes on the relationships between all of the worlds, but even as he read, the topic changed. Ansem began detailing his theories of each individual world's rulers. He stated that he was close to proving the fact that each world had a Prince or Princess or even a King or Queen to rule over it.

It was the very last part of the passage that really caught his attention, though.

_When all else fails, we – the royalty, the Princes and Princesses and Kings and Queens – are the Key._

Riku read this statement over several times. He could not deny that this one sentence contained several points of interest.

First of all, could Ansem the Wise have been a King like King Mickey. Riku could see that. After all, he was the closest thing Radiant Garden ever had for a King anyway. Secondly, why would the word 'key' be capitalized? Maybe…

"Kairi, Demyx," he said slowly. They looked over to him. "Come here."

"What is it?" Kairi asked as they shuffled over and peered down at the book Riku was holding.

"I think I found something." He pointed out the passage, and the others quickly read over it.

"Wait, what does that mean?" Demyx asked, looking back up at Riku.

"It means that the rulers of the worlds are the key to something," said Riku.

"And he's used the Princesses of Heart as passwords before," said Kairi.

The three of them exchanged brief glances before they were all on their feet and all but running to the computer room.

"Tron!" Riku barked as they reached the terminal. "Pull up the coded file for Radiant Garden. I think we found the passwords."

"Of course, User Riku!" Tron replied most happily and in seconds he had the grid pulled up, complete with Radiant Garden's block and hex code of a name.

"Okay, shoot."

"Ansem the Wise."

A few seconds of absolutely nothing.

_ACCESS GRANTED._

The box began to whir and labeled documents popped up on the screen left and right and Riku could barely keep up with them all. He saw pictures and words and more coding than he ever believed could possibly be in one single file.

"Guys," the silver-haired teen said quietly. "We did it."

He couldn't stop the smile creeping upon his face as Kairi and Demyx both began to laugh loudly. If Ansem the Wise was the password to Radiant Garden's file, then he was sure he knew the password to Destiny Islands.

Then, his cell phone began to ring madly in his pocket.

_To be continued…_

**Sassy:** Dun dun DUNNN!!! So we're finally getting somewhere but GASP! Who could possibly want to talk to Riku NOW!?

Leave a review or Riku will never answer his cell phone so the plot with never go anywhere.


	13. Chapter 12

**Sassy's Note:** Ooh, more PLOT. Fun stuff. For all of you action-type people, the romance will be on hold for a bit.

**The World's Heart**

Riku's hand shot down into his pocket at the first ring and pushed the button on the side. It stopped mid-chime and fell silent. He didn't stop to wonder who may be calling him, but turned his attention back on the screen and was again amazed at the number of files that had opened on the screen.

"Oh, wow," Demyx muttered, eyes flicking over the text that was at the top of the screen. Riku was reading that as well. It was apparently the statistics of Radiant Garden, and at the very top was exactly what Riku had been looking for.

_King Ansem the Wise – Deceased_

Riku stared at this. So Ansem the Wise _was_ King of Radiant Garden. Okay, he'd expected that. What he didn't expect was for the man's title to be followed by the word "deceased." Ansem _certainly_ hadn't coded that…

"Tron," said Riku suddenly. "Is there any way now to see what that self-operating program does?"

"Maybe," Tron replied. "I'll check the program and file updates for this particular document."

"Good. I think we've found what it does…"

Then, his phone went off again, and with a frustrated noise, he pressed the ignore button again. Kairi gave him a look.

"Riku, maybe you should answer that," she said with a touch of annoyance in her voice. He shook his head indifferently, flicking his eyes over to her briefly before returning them to the computer screen.

"It can wait." Hell yes, it could wait. After all the hours of going through tome after tome, they'd _finally_ gotten into the files, and Riku wasn't planning on leaving until he had thoroughly studied them. He still had to use the knowledge to figure out how to get Sora back…

"What if something's wrong?" Kairi pressed on, hands on her hips and head tilted slightly to the side.

Riku sighed. "Kai, _everything's_ wrong right now." Her expression dropped. "They will be fine for just a few minutes while we see what we can find in these files."

Harsh, but it was true. They had finally struck gold, and as far as Riku was concerned, this was top priority over whatever drama the others were dealing with. Sure, his opinion was biased, but did he care? Nope.

"Yeah," she conceded after a moment of chewing on her lip. "You're right. But, if they call again…"

"I'll answer it," he promised her, fixing his eyes back on the screen.

"Sooo," Demyx said uncertainly, obviously uncomfortable, "What is that program you were talking about, Riku?"

"It's a self-operating and activating program that's been running even when no one's been here to use the system." The silvered teen scanned the screen. "Look at this." He pointed to the top of the page. "Ansem the Wise would have died before he had the chance to change this information about the world."

"And it says he's deceased," Kairi muttered, and Riku could tell she had caught on.

"User Riku," Tron suddenly spoke up. "The program last activated this file three years ago."

"Three years ago," he repeated, looking first at Kairi, then Demyx. "Ansem died three years ago."

"So the program keeps track of-"

Demyx was cut off when Riku's phone once again began ringing. With an irritated growl, the silvered teen snatched it from his pocket, and with a _look_ in Kairi's direction, he flipped it open a muttered a terse, "Hello."

"_RIKU_!!"

Startled, he jerked the phone from his ear a bit. What the heck? "Leon? Is that you?"

"_Yes_!" bellowed Leon's voice from the phone again. "_Where the fuck are you!?"_

"Ansem's study. We just-"

"_We need you!"_

"What's wrong?" he responded immediately. Damn it, he was such an idiot. He _knew_ better than to ignore his phone if it rang more than once. He should have answered it on the first ring. It was just… he felt so close to getting Sora back.

"_Fucking… Heartless!"_ Leon's voice came in a gasp, and Riku heard distinct fighting sounds, including the clang of metal and a battle cry he was fairly sure belonged to Cloud.

"I'll be right there," he spoke quickly into the phone and snapped it shut immediately. He turned on his heel and began running.

"Riku!" Kairi called after him, and he heard the footsteps of both she and Demyx following him.

"Heartless," he called over his shoulder. "The others are in trouble."

At a full run, it didn't take the three of them long to reach town, but they were completely out of breath when they got there. Panting, they looked around, sounds of battle all around them, but they couldn't see it.

"Leon!" Riku called. "Cloud!"

There was no answer, but, strangely, the sounds of the battle grew louder though they still saw no sign of anything out of the ordinary. Then, Cloud screeched an attack right by Riku's ear, and the teen ducked away in alarm. However, when he looked back, no one was there.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked no one in particular. Kairi looked just as lost as he was feeling. Demyx took a few wary steps forward, eyes slowly roaming their surroundings.

"They're here," he said softly. Another clang of metal on metal that sounded as though it was right on top of them. Riku reflexively ducked again as Demyx continued, "They're here. Just not_ here_."

"What are you talking about?" he demanded of the ex-Nobody. Demyx met his gaze with serious ocean colored eyes.

"They're in a different realm, dimension, whatever you want to call it. They're right where we are, just there and not here."

"What does that mean? How did they get there?"

"I… don't know." The blond looked around them again, wincing when they heard another shout – Leon's this time – followed by a grunt of pain Riku couldn't place but knew it was neither Cloud nor Leon. "There's a way to get there, though. There has to be. Look for a… a portal-like thing. Like a break in the atmosphere. It'll be close."

"Fine, let's split and look for it." Nods of agreement, then Demyx took off running down one street, Kairi down another, and Riku ran for the marketplace. How could they have gotten into another dimension? And how…

Riku pulled his phone from his pocket and jabbed the redial button, holding the device to his ear as he jogged down the path. He was met with a depressing-sounding chime of denial. Cursing, he snapped the phone shut. Wherever Leon was, he couldn't be reached by phone. It had been too long – in Riku's mind at least – since he had gotten the call. There was no telling what had happened and he _couldn't get to them_!

He cursed a bit more and scanned the immediate area. Nothing. He could still hear the battle cries, though, and he followed Leon's shout and BANG of his gunblade. He had no idea where Kairi and Demyx had gone, and while his chest squeezed with concern for them, he knew they could take care of themselves.

He ran down another street, the sounds of battle abruptly quieting quite a bit. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He continued barreling down the street, though.

He wondered what that thing Demyx was talking about could possibly look like. Noticeable or easy to miss? Would it even have form or would they all just fall into whatever dimension the others were in? Damnit, this wasn't getting any easier. How could things have gone so wrong so fast?

_It's time…_

"Shut UP!" Riku yelled aloud, coming to a stop and twisting around furiously. He'd had enough of voices wandering through the dark realm. He didn't need any more now! And if it was insistent upon taking up residence in his head, it could at least help him get Sora back, or even show him how to get to Leon and the others!

_To your left._

Riku looked left just in time to see a Heartless jump at him. He raised his Keyblade to block and the dark creature sprang away, enabling Riku to get a good look at it. It was the same kind of Heartless they had encountered guarding Sora's tomb back on Destiny Islands. The Heartless growled at him, canine-like muzzle curling back and exposing dark teeth to him. How did it get here?

It jumped at him, and Riku snapped out of his stupor. It fell easily to his Keyblade, and he watched in morbid fascination as it faded back into darkness. How… how!?

_Now turn around._

Riku did so, hardly thinking about what he was doing.

_Down the street. The first right._

He took off running down the street, not really knowing why he was trusting that voice, but it was the only thing he had to go by. Take a chance. It's what Sora would do.

The first right took him down an alley way, and that's when he saw it. Exactly like Demyx had said, there was a jagged, squirming cut in the air about a foot off the ground. It reminded Riku of a half-opened dark path, like the ones he used to use. The swirling dark void inside sparked and cracked, and Riku had a half second to wonder if it was safe to go through before the voice urged him.

_Hurry._

Throwing his worries to the wind, he yelled as loud as he could, "_KAIRI! DEMYX! I FOUND IT!!_" Hoping they had heard him, he charged toward the opening, holding his Keyblade before him, and entered the portal.

It felt like going through a dark path as well. It was cold, and he could feel tendrils of _something_ brush against him, but it didn't last long before he was in the realm that the opening lead too. It was dark all around him, but as his head swiveled around, he knew he had found the right place.

"_Took you long enough_!" Leon shouted at him, aiming a shot from his Gunblade a Heartless, the same type of Heartless that the silvered teen had just encountered. How did they get here?

"Watch it!" came a voice in his ear. He instinctively ducked, and Yuffie send her shuriken flying over his head to stick in another of the Heartless. With an amused giggle, she jumped over him to retrieve it.

Riku turned his head to the others. There was Leon, shooting the Heartless while dodging around. Not too far from him was Cid, cursing left and right while smashing at them with, what Riku assumed was, a metal pole. Yuffie was jumping around here and there; Tifa was beating the ungodly hell out of one unfortunate Heartless; Rude was hovering somewhere next to her, also using his fists. Cloud went soaring over Riku's head, glowing as he swung his sword and took out the creatures one by one. Aerith was standing close to Leon, casting healing spells occasionally and using attack magic when she wasn't healing.

It took Riku a moment to find Reno, but the redhead was there, fighting viciously with his EMR sparking. He was standing further away than everyone else, and it seemed to the teen that he was keeping his back to them. Great… he didn't need to ask what that was about.

Riku cleared his head of all thoughts and joined the fray. There were a lot more Heartless than there had been at the ruins. These were bigger too. Could they be evolving?

One of them pounced at him, and he just barely managed to jump away. It growled at him, crouching low to the ground as if to strike again, but Riku dodged to the side and thrust his Keyblade forward into the creature's neck. It howled and vanished in swirls of darkness, but another one just took its place. This would take a while.

"_DANCE, WATER, DANCE!!"_

Water rose from under the warriors' feet and took corporeal form. Riku almost smiled as he turned his head toward the rip in the atmosphere. Demyx stood just there, plucking furiously at his sitar strings. His water clones seemed to confuse the Heartless, which snapped at the figures, only to get a mouthful of water. He saw the feral smirk that curled the Nocturne's lips. He really didn't know why everyone was so surprised the blond made it in Organization XIII. He could truly act like the heartless being he had been.

"Riku!" yelled Kairi's voice, and the said teen whirled around. Kairi ran to him, her Keyblade out. She looked a bit nervous, so he reached out to her. She took his hand, allowed herself to be pulled flush against him, and looked around.

"What's going on?"

"I have no idea. We just have to take care of these Heartless." He looked at her, cyan eyes sparkling with a malicious glint. "Shall we get them together?"

She just raised her Keyblade in response.

Kairi wasn't a great fighter, Riku noticed. She lacked the skill and practice he and the others had, but she was doing pretty well with her hack-n-slash method. He stayed aware her as they fought back to back, turning occasionally to help if she was becoming overwhelmed.

It was a long battle. The warriors had grown past weary by the end of it, their movements sloppy and indecisive. The Heartless numbers had thinned, but they were still there, materializing out of the black void.

Demyx was the first to make a careless, near-fatal error. His attention remained diverted onto his water clones too long, and he failed to notice the Heartless that crept behind him. The massive creature pounced, taking the Nocturne down. The water clones fell away when the music stopped, and head swiveled in the direction of the former Nobody.

"Fuck, _Demyx_!" Reno yelled and made to rush to help the blond, but he was seized on either side by Heartless. They dragged him backward, and with teeth clamped around his left wrist, he couldn't raise his EMR to free himself. The redhead was jerked forcefully, and he lost his footing, falling back into the mass of darkness.

_To be continued…_

**Sassy:** Okay, so ending is abrupt, but I want the next chapter to really be the kicker so I'm like, hey, this is a good cliffie to leave all my lovely readers!

So, if you want the next chapter fast, I'd suggest reviewing. But that's only a suggestion.


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